.  $J .  JnttmYiu\ 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2015 


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HISTORY 

OP 

THE  REIGN  OF 

FERDINAND  AND  ISABELLA. 

i 

VOL.  II. 


m  m 


HISTORY 


OF 


THE  REIGN  OF 

FERDINAND  AND  ISABELLA, 
THE  CATHOLIC. 


By  WILLIAM    H.  PRESCOTT. 


Conjugio  tali 


Quae  Burgere  regna 
Virgil.  Mntid.  iy.  47. 


Orevere  vires,  famaq.ue  et  imperi 
Porrecta  inajestas  ab  Euro 
Solis  ad  Occiduum  cubile. 

Horat.  Carm.  iv.  15. 


IN  THREE   VOLUMES.— VOL.  II 

ELEVENTH  EDITION. 


BOSTON: 
PHILLIPS,  SAMPSON,  AND  COMPANY. 
1856. 


» 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1837,  by 
WILLIAM  H.  PRESCOTT, 
in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  District  of  Massachusetts. 


CONTENTS 

OP 

VOLUME  SECOND 


PART  FIRST. 

THE  PERIOD,  WHEN  THE  DIFFERENT  KINGDOMS  OF  SPAIN 
WERE  FIRST  UNITED  UNDER  ONE  MONARCHY,  AND  A  THOR- 
OUGH REFORM  WAS  INTRODUCED  INTO  THEIR  INTERNAL 
ADMINISTRATION;  OR  THE  PERIOD  EXHIBITING  MOST  FULLY 
THE  DOMESTIC  POLICY  OF  FERDINAND  AND  ISABELLA. 

(continued.) 


CHAPTER  XII. 

Page 

Internal  Affairs  of  the  Kingdom.  —  Inquisition  in 
Aragon        ....  ...  3 

Isabella  enforces  the  Laws     ....  .3 

Chastisement  of  certain  Ecclesiaer_.es        ....  4 

Marriage  of  Catharine  of  Navarre   5 

Liberation  of  Catalan  Serfs   5 

Inquisition  in  Aragon     ........  6 

Remonstrances  of  Cortes   7 

Conspiracy  formed   8 

Assassination  of  Arbues   9 

Cruel  Persecutions   10 

Inquisition  throughout  Ferdinand's  Dominions   ...  11 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

War  of  Granada.  —  Surrender  of  Velez  Malaga. — 
Siege  and  Conquest  of  Malaga       ...  12 

Position  of  Velez  Malaga  .  ...  12 

Army  before  Velez     .      .   13 

Defeat  of  El  Zagal  • .  .13 

Narrow  Escape  of  Ferdinand     ....  .14 


VI 


CONTENTS. 


Page 

Surrender  of  Velez  •  .35 

Description  of  Malaga       ......  16 

Sharp  Rencontre   .19 

Malaga  invested  by  Sea  and  Land      •      •      •             •  20 

Brilliant  Spectacle   21 

Extensive  Preparations   22 

The  Queen  visits  the  Camp   23 

Summons  of  the  Town      ..*••••  24 

Danger  of  the  Marquis  of  Cadiz   24 

Civil  Feuds  of  the  Moors    ...                   •      •  25 

Attempt  to  assassinate  the  Sovereigns   •      •      •  26 

Distress  and  Resolution  of  the  Besieged    •      •      •      •  28 

Enthusiasm  of  the  Christians   29 

Discipline  of  the  Army   29 

General  Sally   30 

Generosity  of  a  Moorish  Knight   31 

Outworks  carried   32 

Grievous  Famine        ........  32 

Proposals  for  Surrender   33 

Haughty  Demeanor  of  Ferdinand   34 

Malaga  surrenders  at  Discretion     ...       ...  35 

Purification  of  the  City      •••••••  36 

Entrance  of  the  Sovereigns   37 

Release  of  Christian  Captives   37 

Lament  of  the  Malagans   38 

Sentence  passed  on  them   40 

Wary  Device  of  Ferdinand   40 

Cruel  Policy  of  the  Victors   41 

Measures  for  repeopling  Malaga   43 


CHAPTER  XIV. 


War  of  Granada.  —  Conquest  of  Baza.  —  Submission 

of  El  Zagal    45 

The  Sovereigns  visit  Aragon   45 

Inroads  into  Granada    46 

Border  War   47 

Emoassy  from  Maximilian    48 

Preparations  for  the  Siege  of  Baza       ...  .50 

The  King  takes  Command  of  the  Army     ....  51 

Position  and  Strength  of  Baza   52 

Assault  on  the  Garden   53 

Despondency  of  the  Spanish  Chiefs   55 


CONTENTS.  vii 

Tag© 

Dispelled  by  Isabella   56 

Gardens  cleared  of  their  Timber   57 

City  closely  invested          •••••••  58 

Mission  from  the  Sultan  of  Egypt   59 

Houses  erected  for  the  Army     ••••••  61 

Its  strict  Discipline        ........  62 

Heavy  Tempest   63 

Isabella's  Energy   64 

Her  patriotic  Sacrifices   64 

Resolution  of  the  Besieged   65 

Isabella  visits  the  Camp  •  66 

Suspension  of  Arms   67 

Baza  surrenders   68 

Conditions   68 

Occupation  of  the  City   69 

Treaty  of  Surrender  with  El  Zagal   69 

Painful  March  of  the  Spanish  Army   ...  .70 

Interview  between  Ferdinand  and  El  Zagal  ....  71 

Occupation  of  El  ZagaPs  Domain   72 

Equivalent  assigned  to  him   73 

Difficulties  of  this  Campaign   74 

Isabella's  Popularity  and  Influence   74 

Notice  of  Peter  Martyr    75 

CHAPTER  XV. 

War  of  Granada.  —  Siege  and  Surrender  of  the 

City  of  Granada    70 

The  Infanta  Isabella   79 

Public  Festivities   80 

Granada  summoned  in  vain   81 

Knighthood  of  Don  Juan   82 

Ferdinand's  Policy   83 

Isabella  deposes  the  Judges  of  Chancery    ....  84 

Ferdinand  musters  his  Forces   85 

Encamps  in  the  Vega   86 

Position  of  Granada   86 

Moslem  and  Christian  Chivalry   87 

The  Queen  surveys  the  City   89 

Skirmish  with  the  Enemy   89 

Conflagration  of  the  Christian  Camp      ....  90 

Erection  of  Santa  Fe   92 

Negotiations  for  Surrender  


vin  CONTENTS 


Page 

Capitulation  of  Granada   94 

Commotions  in  Granada   95 

Preparations  for  occupying  the  City   96 

The  Cross  raised  on  the  Aihambra   97 

Fate  of  Abdallah   90 

Results  of  the  War  of  Granada   102 

Its  Moral  Influence    103 

Its  Military  Influence     .    104 

Destiny  of  the  Moors   105 

Death  and  Character  of  the  Marquis  of  Cadiz             .      .  106 

Notice  of  Bernaldez,  Curate  of  Los  Palacios     .      •      .  108 

Irving's  Chronicle  of  Granada   109 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

Application  of  Christopher  Columbus  at  the  Span- 
ish Court   110 

Maritime  Enterprise  of  the  Portuguese         ....  112 

Early  Spanish  Discoveries    112 

Early  History  of  Columbus   115 

Belief  of  Land  in  the  West   116 

Columbus  applies  to  Portugal   119 

To  the  Court  of  Castile   119 

Referred  to  a  Council   120 

His  Application  rejected   121 

He  prepares  to  leave  Spain   123 

Interposition  in  his  Behalf   124 

Columbus  at  Santa  Fe   125 

Negotiations  again  broken  off   126 

The  Queen's  favorable  Disposition   127 

Final  Arrangement  with  Columbus   128 

He  sails  on  his  First  Voyage   129 

Indifference  to  his  Enterprise   131 

Acknowledgments  due  to  Isabella   133 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

Expulsion  of  the  Jews  from  Spain.      .      .      .  135 

Excitement  against  the  Jews   135 

Fomented  by  the  Clergy   136 

Violent  Conduct  of  Torquemada   137 


CONTENTS.  II 

Page 

Edict  of  Expulsion   139 

Its  severe  Operation   140 

Constancy  of  the  Jews   142 

Routes  of  the  Emigrants   143 

Their  Sufferings  in  Africa   144 

In  other  Countries   146 

Whole  Number  of  Exiles   143 

Disastrous  Results   149 

True  Motives  of  the  Edict  .    150 

Contemporary  Judgments   151 

Mistaken  Piety  of  the  Queen   153 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

Attempted  Assassination  of  Ferdinand. —  Return 

and  Second  Voyage  of  Columbus   ....  155 

The  Sovereigns  visit  Aragon   155 

Attempt  on  Ferdinand's  Life   156 

General  Consternation   157 

Loyalty  of  the  People   158 

Slow  Recovery  of  the  King   158 

Punishment  of  the  Assassin   159 

Return  of  Columbus   160 

Discovery  of  the  West  Indies   161 

Joyous  Reception  of  Columbus   162 

His  Progress  to  Barcelona   164 

Interview  with  the  Sovereigns   165 

Sensations  caused  by  the  Discovery       ...             .  166 

Board  for  Indian  Affairs   168 

Regulations  of  Trade   168 

Preparations  for  a  Second  Voyage      ....  169 

Conversion  of  the  Natives                                             .  170 

New  powers  granted  to  Columbus      ....  171 

Application  to  Rome   172 

Famous  Bulls  of  Alexander  VI.         ....  173 

Jealousy  of  the  Court  of  Lisbon   175 

Wary  Diplomacy   176 

Second  Voyage  of  Columbus        «...  .177 

Mission  to  Portugal   179 

Disgust  of  John  II   .180 

Treaty  of  Tordesillas   .181 

VOL.  II.  b 


X 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

Page. 

Castilian  Literature. — Cultivation  op  the  Court. 

—  Classical  Learning. —  Science   ....  184 

Ferdinand's  Education  neglected   185 

Instruction  of  Isabella   185 

Her  Collection  of  Books   187 

Tuition  of  the  Infantas   188 

Of  Prince  John   189 

The  Queen's  Care  for  the  Education  of  her  Nobles     .      •  191 

Labors  of  Martyr   193 

Of  Lucio  Marineo     .    193 

Scholarship  of  the  Nobles   195 

Accomplished  Women   196 

Classical  Learning   198 

Lebrija   198 

Arias  Barbosa   200 

Merits  of  the  Spanish  Scholars   201 

Universities   202 

Sacred  Studies   204 

Other  Sciences                                                         ,  205 

Printing  introduced   206 

The  Queen  encourages  it    206 

Its  rapid  Diffusion   207 

Actual  Progress  of  Science   209 

CHAPTER  XX. 

Castilian  Literature. —  Romances   of   Chivalry. — 

Lyrical  Poetry.  —  The  Drama      .      .      .      .  211 

This  Reign  an  Epoch  in  Polite  Letters   21 1 

Romances  of  Chivalry   212 

Their  pernicious  Effects   215 

Ballads  or  Romances   216 

Early  Cultivation  in  Spain      •   216 

Resemblance  to  the  English   218 

Moorish  Minstrelsy  ,  218 

Its  Date  and  Origin   221 

Its  high  Repute   222 

Numerous  Editions  of  the  Ballads      ....  224 

Lyric  Poetry   225 


CONTENTS.  » 

Page 

Cancionero  General        ......      o      .  226 

Its  Literary  Value   227 

Low  State  of  Lyric  Poetry   229 

Coplas  of  Manrique  •      •  230 

Rise  of  the  Spanish  Drama   231 

Tragicomedy  of  Celestina   233 

Criticism  on  it   234 

It  opened  the  Way  to  Dramatic  Writing   ....  235 

Numerous  Editions  of  it   237 

Juan  de  la  Encina   237 

His  Dramatic  Eclogues   238 

Torres  de  Naharro   240 

His  Comedies   241 

Similar  in  Spirit  with  the  later  Dramas      ....  242 

Not  acted  in  Spain   243 

Low  Condition  of  the  Stage   244 

Tragic  Drama   245 

Oliva's  Classic  Imitations   246 

Not  popular   247 

National  Spirit  of  the  Literature  of  this  Epoch  .      .      .  247 

Moratin's  Dramatic  Criticism   249 


PART  SECOND. 

THE  PERIOD  WHEN,  THE  INTERIOR  ORGANIZATION  OF  THE 
MONARCHY  HAVING  BEEN  COMPLETED,  THE  SPANISH  NA- 
TION ENTERED  ON  ITS  SCHEMES  OF  DISCOVERY  AND  CON- 
QUEST  j  OR  THE  PERIOD  ILLUSTRATING  MORE  PARTICU- 
LARLY THE  FOREIGN  POLICY  OF  FERDINAND  AND  ISABELLA. 

CHAPTER  I. 
Italian  Wars.  —  General  View  of  Europe.  — Invasion 
of  Italy  by  Charles  VIII.,  of  France      .      .  253 

Foreign  Politics  directed  by  Ferdinand         ....  253 

Europe  at  the  Close  of  the  Fifteenth  Century    .       .       .  254 

Character  of  the  reigning  Sovereigns   255 

Improved  Political  and  Moral  Condition     ....  256 

More  intimate  Relations  between  States       .       .       .       .  256 

Foreign  Relations  conducted  by  the  Sovereign         .      .  258 


xii 


CONTENTS. 


Page 

Italy  the  School  of  Politics    259 

Her  most  powerful  States   260 

Character  of  Italian  Politics   263 

Internal  Prosperity   264 

Intrigues  of  Sforza   264 

Charles  VIII.,  of  France  •       .  265 

His  Pretensions  to  Naples   266 

Negotiations  respecting  Roussillon   268 

Charles's  Counsellors  in  the  Pay  of  Ferdinand  .       •       .  269 

Treaty  of  Barcelona   270 

Its  Importance  to  Spain   271 

Alarm  at  the  French  Invasion,  in  Italy   272 

In  Europe,  especially  Spain   272 

Preparations  of  Charles   273 

An  Envoy  sent  to  the  French  Court   275 

Announces  Ferdinand's  Views    ...       ...  275 

Charles's  Dissatisfaction   276 

The  French  cross  the  Alps   277 

Italian  Tactics   278 

The  Swiss  Infantry   280 

French  Artillery   281 

Sforza  jealous  of  the  French   282 

The  Pope  confers  the  Title  of  Catholic      ....  284 

Naval  Preparations  in  Spain   284 

Second  Mission  to  Charles  VIII.        ...             .  285 

Bold  Conduct  of  the  Envoys   287 

The  King  of  Naples  flies  to  Sicily   287 

The  French  enter  Naples   289 

General  Hostility  to  them   289 

League  of  Venice   290 

Zurita's  Life  and  Writings   292 

CHAPTER  II. 

Italian  Wars.  —  Retreat  of  Charles  VIII.  —  Cam- 
paigns OF  GONSALVO  DE  CORDOVA.  FlNAL  EXPUL- 
SION of  the  French   295 

Conduct  of  Charles   295 

Plunders  the  Works  of  Art   296 

Retreat  of  the  French                                                  .  297 

Gonsalvo  de  Cordova   300 

His  Early  Life        .    30O 


CONTENTS.  xiii 

Page 

His  brilliant  Qualities   301 

Raised  to  the  Italian  Command   303 

Arrives  in  Italy   304 

Lands  in  Calabria   305 

Marches  on  Seminara  ...             ...  306 

Gonsalvo's  Prudence   307 

Battle  of  Seminara   308 

Defeat  of  the  Neapolitans   309 

Gonsalvo  retreats  to  Reggio       .      •      •      •      •      •  311 

Ferdinand  recovers  his  Capital   313 

Gonsalvo  in  Calabria   314 

His  Successes   315 

Decline  of  the  French   316 

Besieged  in  Atella  •  318 

Gonsalvo  surprises  Laino   319 

Arrives  before  Atella   320 

Receives  the  Title  of  Great  Captain   321 

Beats  a  Detachment  of  Swiss   322 

Capitulation  of  Montpensier   323 

Miserable  State  of  the  French   324 

Death  of  Ferdinand  of  Naples   325 

Accession  of  Frederic  II                                     .  326 

Total  Expulsion  of  the  French   327 

Remarks  on  Guicciardini  and  Giovio         ....  327 

Sismondi   328 


CHAPTER  DO. 

Italian   Wars.  —  Gonsalvo   Succours   the   Pope.  — 
Treaty  with   France.  —  Organization  of  the 

Spanish  Militia  .       .       •  330 

War  on  the  Side  of  Roussillon      ...        .      .  330 


The  Pope  asks  the  Aid  of  Gonsalvo     .        ....  332 

Storming  and  Capture  of  Ostia   332 

Gonsalvo  enters  Rome   333 

His  Reception  by  the  Pope   333 

Returns  to  Spain    .    334 

Peace  with  France   335 

Ferdinand's  Views  Respecting  Naples  .      .             .  336 

His  Fame  acquired  by  the  War         •             ...  338 

Influence  of  the  War  on  Spain     .      .      .       .      .      .  339 

Organization  of  the  Militia       ...             .  340 


xiv 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Pago 

Alliances  of  the  Royal  Family. — Death  of  Prince 

John  and  Princess  Isabella      ....  343 

Royal  Family  of  Castile   343 

Joanna  Beltraneja    344 

Marriage  of  the  Princess  Isabella   345 

Death  of  her  Husband   346 

Alliances  with  the  House  of  Austria        ....  348 

And  that  of  England   348 

Joanna  embarks   350 

The  Queen's  Anxiety   351 

Margaret  of  Austria   352 

Returns  in  the  Fleet   353 

Marriage  of  John  and  Margaret   353 

Second  Marriage  of  Princess  Isabella   355 

Sudden  Illness  of  Prince  John   356 

His  Death   357 

His  amiable  Character       .       .      .             .      •      •  358 

The  King  and  Queen  of  Portugal  visit  Spain       .      •      .  359 

Objections  to  their  Recognition   361 

Isabella  displeased   362 

Her  Daughter's  Death   363 

Its  Effects  on  Isabella   364 

Prince  Miguel's  Recognition   365 

CHAPTER  V. 

Death  of  Cardinal  Mendoza.  —  Rise  of  Ximenes. — 

Ecclesiastical  Reform   368 

Death  of  Mendoza         .      .  %   368 

His  Early  Life   369 

And  Character   370 

His  Amours   370 

The  Queen  his  Executor   372 

Birth  of  Ximenes   373 

He  visits  Rome   374 

His  Return  and  Imprisonment   375 

Established  at  Siguenza   376 

Enters  the  Franciscan  Order    .                                 .  376 


CONTENTS.  xv 

Page 

His  severe  Penance   377 

His  ascetic  Life   378 

He  is  made  Guardian  of  Salzeda   379 

Introduced  to  the  Queen   380 

Made  her  Confessor     .    380 

Elected  Provincial   381 

Corruption  of  the  Monasteries   382 

Attempts  at  Reform                                                  .  383 

See  of  Toledo  vacant   384 

Offered  to  Ximenes   .    386 

He  reluctantly  accepts   387 

Characteristic  Anecdotes  of  Ximenes       ....  388 

His  austere  Life   389 

Reform  in  his  Diocese      .......  390 

Example  of  his  Severity   391 

Reform  of  the  Monastic  Orders  ......  392 

Great  Excitement  caused  by  it   392 

Visit  of  the  Franciscan  General   393 

Insults  the  Queen  •  393 

The  Pope's  Interference   395 

Consents  to  the  Reform   395 

Its  Operation  and  Effects   396 

Alvaro  Gomez,  and  Biographers  of  Ximenes  ....  398 

CHAPTER  VI. 

Ximenes  in  Granada. —  Persecution,  Insurrection, 

and  Conversion  of  the  Moors   401 

Introductory  Remarks   401 

Ximenes,  his  Constancy  of  Purpose   403 

Tranquil  State  of  Granada   404 

Tendilla   404 

Talavera  ;    .      .      .       .  405 

Archbishop  of  Granada    406 

His  mild  Policy  .   •      .  406 

The  Clergy  dissatisfied  with  it   408 

Temperate  Sway  of  the  Sovereigns   408 

Ximenes  in  Granada   409 

His  violent  Measures   410 

Destroys  Arabic  Books   413 

Mischievous  Effects   415 

Revolt  of  the  Albaycin    416 


XVI 


CONTENTS. 


Page 

Ximenes  besieged  in  his  Palace   417 

The  Insurgents  appeased  by  Talavera       .      .             .  418 

Displeasure  of  the  Sovereigns        ......  420 

Ximenes  hastens  to  Court    420 

Conversion  of  Granada   421 

Applauded  by  the  Spaniards   422 

CHAPTER  VII. 

Rising  in  the  Alpuxarras.  — Death  of  Alonso  de 

Aguilar. — Edict  against  the  Moors       .       .  425 

The  Alpuxarras   425 

Rising  of  the  Moors   426 

Huejar  sacked   427 

Ferdinand  marches  into  the  Mountains      ....  428 

Carries  Lanjaron   429 

Punishment  of  the  Rebels    429 

Revolt  of  the  Sierra  Vermeja   431 

Rendezvous  at  Ronda   432 

Expedition  into  the  Sierra   433 

The  Moors  retreat  up  the  Mountains               •      .      •  434 

Return  on  the  Spaniards   435 

Alonso  de  Aguilar   436 

His  Gallantry  and  Death   437 

His  noble  Character   438 

Bloody  Rout  of  the  Spaniards   439 

Dismay  of  the  Nation   440 

The  Rebels  submit  to  Ferdinand    .      .      •      .      .  .441 

Banishment  or  Conversion   441 

Commemorative  Ballads         .......  442 

Melancholy  Reminiscences         ...             •      •  444 

Edict  against  the  Moors  of  Castile   446 

Christianity  and  Mahometanism                ....  448 

Causes  of  Intolerance   449 

Aggravated  in  the  Fifteenth  Century         ....  450 

Effects  of  the  Inquisition   450 

Defects  of  the  Treaty  of  Granada   452 

Evasion  of  it  by  the  Christians       ......  452 

Priestly  Casuistry   454 

Last  Notice  of  the  Moors  in  the  Present  Reign    .      .      .  455 


CONTENTS.  xvii 
CHAPTER  VIII. 

Page 

Columbus.  —  Prosecution  of  Discovery.  —  His  Treat- 
ment by  the  Court   457 

Progress  of  Discovery   457 

Misconduct  of  the  Colonists   459 

Complaints  against  Columbus        ....              .  460 

His  Second  Return   461 

The  Queen's  Confidence  in  him  unshaken      ....  462 

Honors  conferred  on  him   464 

His  Third  Voyage   465 

Discovers  Terra  Firma   465 

Mutiny  in  the  Colony   466 

Loud  Complaints  against  Columbus   467 

Bigoted  Views  in  regard  to  the  Heathen       ....  469 

More  liberal  Sentiments  of  Isabella          ....  470 

She  sends  back  the  Indian  Slaves   471 

Authority  to  Bobadilla   471 

Outrage  on  Columbus   472 

Deep  Regret  of  the  Sovereigns   474 

Reception  of  Columbus   474 

Vindication  of  the  Sovereigns   475 

Commission  to  Ovando          •   477 

Groundless  Imputations  on  the  Government       .       .       .  479 

The  Admiral's  Despondency   482 

His  Fourth  and  Last  Voyage   483 

Remarkable  Fate  of  his  Enemies   484 

CHAPTER  IX. 

Spanish  Colonial  Policy        ....  486 

Careful  Provision  for  the  Colonies         .                   .       .  486 

Liberal  Grants   487 

License  for  Private  Voyages   488 

Their  Success   490 

Indian  Department   490 

Casa  de  Contratacion    492 

Important  Papal  Concessions   492 

Spirit  of  the  Colonial  Legislation   493 

The  Queen's  Zeal  for  Converting  the  Natives             .      .  496 

VOL.  II. 


xvni  CONTENTS. 


Page 

Unhappily  defeated  497 

Immediate  Profits  from  the  discoveries  ....  498 

Origin  of  the  Venereal  Disease  501 

Moral  Consequences  of  the  Discoveries        ....  503 

Their  Geographical  Extent  505 

Historians  of  the  New  World  506 

Peter  Martyr       .  ...  .507 

Herrera  and  Mufioz  .  508 


PART  FIRST. 


1406—1492. 


The  period,  when  the  different  kingdoms  of  Spain  were 
first  united  under  one  monarchy,  and  a  thorough 
reform  was  introduced  into  their  internal  adminis- 
tration ;  or  the  period  exhibiting  most  fully  the 
domestic  policy  of  ferdinand  and  isabella. 


VOL.  1!. 


1 


PART  FIRST. 


CHAPTER  XII 

INTERNAL  AFFAIRS  OF  THE  KINGDOM.  —  INQUISITION  IN 

ARAGON. 

1483—1487. 

Isabella  enforces  the  Laws.  —  Punishment  of  Ecclesiastics.  —  Inquisi- 
tion in,  Aragon.  —  Remonstrances' of  the  Cortes.  —  Conspiracy. — 
Assassination  of  the  Inquisitor  Arbues.  —  Cruel  Persecutions.  —  In- 
quisition throughout  Ferdinand's  Dominions. 

In  such  intervals  of  leisure  as  occurred  amid  their  chapter 

xii. 

military  operations,  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  were  dil  

,  .  Isabella  en- 

igently  occupied  with  the  interior  government  of  the  [^8lhe 
kingdom,  and  especially  with  the  rigid  administra- 
tion of  justice,  the  most  difficult  of  all  duties  in  an 
imperfectly  civilized  state  of  society.  The  queen 
found  especial  demand  for  this  in  the  northern  prov- 
inces, whose  rude  inhabitants  were  little  used  to 
subordination.  She  compelled  the  great  nobles  to 
lay  aside  their  arms,  and  refer  their  disputes  to  legal 
arbitration.  She  caused  a  number  of  the  fortresses, 
which  were  still  garrisoned  by  the  baronial  banditti, 
to  be  razed  to  the  ground ;  and  she  enforced  the  ut- 
most severity  of  the  law  against  such  inferior  crim- 
inals as  violated  the  public  peace.1 


1  Lebrija,  Rerum  Gestarum  De-  Reyes  Catolicos,  part.  3,  cap.  27, 39, 
cades,  iii.  lib.  1,  cap.  10.  —  Pulgar,    67,  et  alibi.  —  L.  Marineo,  Cosas 


INTERNAL  AFFAIRS. 


Even  ecclesiastical  immunities,  which  proved  so 
effectual  a  protection  in  most  countries  at  this 
period,  were  not  permitted  to  screen  the  offender. 
A  remarkable  instance  of  this  occurred  at  the  city  of 
Truxillo,  in  1486.  An  inhabitant  of  that  place  had 
been  committed  to  prison  for  some  offence  bjT  order 
of  the  civil  magistrate.  Certain  priests,  relations 
of  the  offender,  alleged  that  his  religious  profession 
exempted  him  from  all  but  ecclesiastical  jurisdic- 
tion ;  and,  as  the  authorities  refused  to  deliver  him 
up,  they  inflamed  the  populace  to  such  a  degree, 
by  their  representations  of  the  insult  offered  to  the 
church,  that  they  rose  in  a  body,  and,  forcing  the 
prison,  set  at  liberty  not  only  the  malefactor  in 
question,  but  all  those  confined  there.  The  queen 
no  sooner  heard  of  this  outrage  on  the  royal  author- 
ity, than  she  sent  a  detachment  of  her  guard  to 
Truxillo,  which  secured  the  persons  of  the  principal 
rioters,  some  of  whom  were  capitally  punished, 
while  the  ecclesiastics,  who  had  stirred  up  the  sedi- 
tion, were  banished  the  realm.  Isabella,  while  by 
her  example,  she  inculcated  the  deepest  reverence 
for  the  sacred  profession,  uniformly  resisted  every 
attempt  from  that  quarter  to  encroach  on  the  royal 
prerogative.  The  tendency  of  her  administration 
was  decidedly,  as  there  will  be  occasion  more  par- 
ticularly to  notice,  to  abridge  the  authority,  which 
that  body  had  exercised  in  civil  matters  under  pre- 
ceding reigns. 2 


Memorables,  fol.  175.  —  Zurita,  66.  —  A  pertinent  example  of  (his 
Anales,  torn.  iv.  fol.  348.  occurred,  December,  1485,  at  Al- 

2  Pulgar,  Reyes  Catolicos,  cap.    cala  de  Henares,  where  the  court 


INQUISITION  IN  ARAGON. 


5 


Nothing  of  interest  occurred  in  the  foreign  rela-  chapter 

tions  of  the  kingdom,  during  the  period  embraced  x" 

by  the  preceding  chapter  ;  except  perhaps  the  mar-  cISSSmU 


Navarre 
1484. 


riage  of  Catharine,  the  young  queen  of  Navarre, 
with  Jean  d'Albret,  a  French  nobleman,  whose 
extensive  hereditary  domains,  in  the  southwest 
corner  of  France,  lay  adjacent  to  her  kingdom. 
This  connexion  was  extremely  distasteful  to  the 
Spanish  sovereigns,  and  indeed  to  many  of  the 
Navarrese,  who  were  desirous  of  the  alliance  with 
Castile.  This  was  ultimately  defeated  by  the 
queen-mother,  an  artful  woman,  who,  being  of  the 
blood  royal  of  France,  was  naturally  disposed  to  a 
union  with  that  kingdom.  Ferdinand  did  not  neg- 
lect to  maintain  such  an  understanding  with  the 
malcontents  of  Navarre,  as  should  enable  him  to 
counteract  any  undue  advantage  which  the  French 
monarch  might  derive  from  the  possession  of  this 
key,  as  it  were,  to  the  Castilian  territory. 3 

In  Aragon,  two  circumstances  took  place  in  the  iteration 

o       7  r^  of  Catalan 

period  under  leview,  deserving  historical  notice. 
The  first  relates  to  an  order  of  the  Catalan  peasan- 
try, denominated  vassals  de  remenza.    These  per- 


was  detained  during  the  queen's  tion  over  every  other  in  the  king- 
illness,  who  there  pave  birth  to  dom,  secular  or  ecclesiastical.  The 
her  youngest  child,  Dofia  Catalina,  affair  was  ultimately  referred  to  the 
afterwards  so  celebrated  in  English  arbitration  of  certain  learned  men, 
history  as  Catharine  of  Aragon.  named  conjointly  by  the  adverse 
A  collision  took  place  in  this  city  parties.  It  was  not  then  deter- 
between  the  royal  judges  and  those  mined,  however,  and  Pulgar  has 
of  the  archbishop  of  Toledo,  to  neglected  to  acquaint  us  with  the 
whose  diocese  it  belonged.  The  award.  Reyes  Catolicos,  cap.  53. 
latter  stoutly  maintained  the  pre-  —  Carbajal,  Anales,  MS.,  afio 
tensions  of  the  church.   The  queen  1485. 

with  equal  pertinacity  asserted  the  3  Aleson,  Annales  de  Navarra, 

supremacy  of  the  royal  jurisdic-  torn.  v.  lib.  35,  cap.  2. 


serfs. 


6 


INTERNAL  AFFAIRS. 


i'art  sons  were  subjected  to  a  feudal  bondage,  which  had 
— '   its  origin  in  very  remote  ages,  but  which  had  be- 
come in  no  degree  mitigated,  while  the  peasantry 
of  every  other  part  of  Europe  had  been  gradually 
rising  to  the  rank  of  freemen.  The  grievous  nature 
of  the  impositions  had  led  to  repeated  rebellions 
i4  86,  in  preceding  reigns.  At  length,  Ferdinand,  after 
many  fruitless  attempts  at  a  mediation  between 
these  unfortunate  people  and  their  arrogant  masters, 
prevailed  on  the  latter,  rather  by  force  of  author- 
ity than  argument,  to  relinquish  the  extraordinary 
seignorial  rights,  which  they  had  hitherto  enjoyed, 
in  consideration  of  a  stipulated  annual  payment 
from  their  vassals. 4 

The  other  circumstance  worthy  of  record,  but 
not  in  like  manner  creditable  to  the  character  of 
the  sovereign,  is  the  introduction  of  the  modern 
Inquisition  into  Aragon.  The  ancient  tribunal  had 
existed  there,  as  has  been  stated  in  a  previous 
chapter,  since  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth  century, 
but  seems  to  have  lost  all  its  venom  in  the  atmo- 
sphere of  that  free  country ;  scarcely  assuming  a 
jurisdiction  beyond  that  of  an  ordinary  ecclesiasti- 
cal court.  No  sooner,  however,  was  the  institution 
organized  on  its  new  basis  in  Castile,  than  Ferdi- 
nand resolved  on  its  introduction,  in  a  similar  form, 
in  his  own  dominions. 

Measures  were  accordingly  taken  to  that  effect 
in  a  meeting  of  a  privy  council  convened  by  the 
king  at  Taracona,  during  the  session  of  the  cortes 

*  Zurita,  Anales,  torn.  iv.  cap.  52,  67.  —  Mariana,  Hist,  de  Es- 
pafia,  lib.  25,  cap.  8. 


INQUISITION  IN  ARAGON. 


7 


in  that  place,  in  April,  1484  ;  and  a  royal  order  chapter 

was  issued,  requiring  all  the  constituted  authorities   —  

throughout  the  kingdom  to  support  the  new  tri- 
bunal in  the  exercise  of  its  functions.  A  Domin- 
ican monk,  Fray  Gaspard  Juglar,  and  Pedro  Arbues 
de  Epila,  a  canon  of  the  metropolitan  church,  were 
appointed  by  the  general,  Torquemada,  inquisitors 
over  the  diocese  of  Saragossa  ;  and,  in  the  month 
of  September  following,  the  chief  justiciary  and 
the  other  great  officers  of  the  realm  took  the  pre- 
scribed oaths.  5 

The  new  institution,  opposed  to  the  ideas  ol 
independence  common  to  all  the  Aragonese,  was 
particularly  offensive  to  the  higher  orders,  many  of 
whose  members,  including  persons  filling  the  most 
considerable  official  stations,  were  of  Jewish  de- 
scent, and  of  course  precisely  the  class  exposed  to 
the  scrutiny  of  the  Inquisition.    Without  difficulty,  Rem©* 

v  1  J  '    strunces  of 

therefore,  the  cortes  was  persuaded  in  the  following  Corte9' 
year  to  send  a  deputation  to  the  court  of  Rome, 
and  another  to  Ferdinand,  representing  the  repug- 
nance of  the  new  tribunal  to  the  liberties  of  the 


5  Llorente,  Hist,  de  requisi- 
tion, torn.  i.  chap.  6,  art.  2.  — Zu- 
rita,  Anales,  lib.  20,  cap.  65. 

At  this  cortes,  convened  at  Ta- 
ra^ona,  Ferdinand  and  Isabella 
experienced  an  instance  of  the 
haughty  spirit  of  their  Catalan 
subjects,  who  refused  to  attend, 
alleging  it  to  be  a  violation  of  their 
liberties  to  be  summoned  to  a 
place  without  the  limits  of  their 
principality.  The  Valencians  also 
protested,  that  their  attendance 
should  not  operate  as  a  precedent 
to  their  prejudice.    It  was  usual 


to  convene  a  central  or  general 
cortes  at  Fraga,  or  Monzon,  or 
some  town,  which  the  Catalans, 
who  were  peculiarly  jealous  of 
their  privileges,  claimed  to  be 
within  their  territory.  It  was  still 
more  usual,  to  hold  separate  cortes 
of  the  three  kingdoms  simultane- 
ously in  such  contiguous  places  in 
each,  as  would  permit  the  royal 
presence  in  all  during  their  ses- 
sion. See  Blancas,  Modo  de  Pro- 
ceder  en  Cortes  de  Aragon,  (Zara- 
goza,  1641.)  cap.  4. 


8 


INTERNAL  AFFAIRS. 


I>ART     nation,  as  well  as  to  their  settled  opinions  and  habits, 

 and  praying  that  its  operation  might  be  suspended 

for  the  present,  so  far  at  least  as  concerned  the  con- 
fiscation of  property,  which  it  rightly  regarded  as 
the  moving  power  of  the  whole  terrible  machin- 
ery.6 

Both  the  pope  and  the  king,  as  may  be  imagin- 
ed, turned  a  deaf  ear  to  these  remonstrances.  In 
the  mean  while  the  Inquisition  commenced  oper- 
ations, and  autos  da  fe  were  celebrated  at  Saragos- 
sa,  with  all  their  usual  horrors,  in  the  months  of 
^3faC5  May  and  June,  in  1485.  The  discontented  Ara- 
gonese,  despairing  of  redress  in  any  regular  way, 
resolved  to  intimidate  their  oppressors  by  some  ap- 
palling act  of  violence.  They  formed  a  conspiracy 
for  the  assassination  of  Arbues,  the  most  odious  of 
the  inquisitors  established  over  the  diocese  of  Sara- 
gossa.  The  conspiracy,  set  on  foot  by  some  of  the 
principal  nobility,  was  entered  into  by  most  of  the 
new  Christians,  or  persons  of  Jewrish  extraction,  in 
the  district.  A  sum  of  ten  thousand  reals  was  sub- 
scribed to  defray  the  necessary  expenses  for  the 
execution  of  their  project.  This  was  not  easy, 
however,  since  Arbues,  conscious  of  the  popular 
odium  that  he  had  incurred,  protected  his  person 

6  By  one  of  the  articles  in  the  (Fueros  y  Observancias,  fol.  11.) 

Privilegium  Generale,  the  Magna  The  icnor  of  this  clause  (although 

Charta  of  Aragon,  it  is  declared,  the  term  inquisicion  must  not  be 

"  Que  turment :  ni  inquisicion  ;  no  confounded  with  the  name  of  the 

sian  en  Aragon  como  sian  con-  modern  institution)  was  sufficiently 

tra  Fuero  el  qual  dize  que  alguna  precise,  one  might  have  thought, 

pesquisa  no  hauemos  :  et  contra  to  secure  the  Aragonese  from  the 

el  privilegio  general,  el  qual  vie-  fangs  of  this  terrible  tribunal, 
da  que  inquisicion  so  sia  feyta." 


INQUISITION  IN  ARAGON. 


9 


by  wearing  under  his  monastic  robes  a  suit  of  mail,  chapter 

•  XII 

complete  even  to  the  helmet  beneath  his  hood.  —  — 
With  similar  vigilance,  he  defended,  also,  every 
avenue  to  his  sleeping  apartment. 7 

At  length,  however,  the  conspirators  found  an  t^a**h£ 
opportunity  of  surprising  him  while  at  his  devo-  bues* 
tions.  Arbues  was  on  his  knees  before  the  great 
altar  of  the  cathedral,  near  midnight,  when  his 
enemies,  who  had  entered  the  church  in  two  separ- 
ate bodies,  suddenly  surrounded  him,  and  one  of 
them  wounded  him  in  the  arm  with  a  dagger,  while 
another  dealt  him  a  fatal  blow  in  the  back  of  his 
neck.  The  priests,  who  were  preparing  to  cele- 
brate matins  in  the  choir  of  the  church,  hastened 
to  the  spot ;  but  not  before  the  assassins  had  effect- 
ed their  escape.  They  transported  the  bleeding 
body  of  the  inquisitor  to  his  apartment,  where  he 
survived  only  two  days,  blessing  the  Lord,  that  he 
had  been  permitted  to  seal  so  good  a  cause  with  his 
blood.  The  whole  scene  will  readily  remind  the 
English  reader  of  the  assassination  of  Thomas  a 
Becket.8 

The  event  did  not  correspond  with  the  expecta- 
tions of  the  conspirators.  Sectarian  jealousy  prov- 
ed stronger  than  hatred  of  the  Inquisition.  The 
populace,  ignorant  of  the  extent  or  ultimate  object 
of  the  conspiracy,  were  filled  with  vague  apprehen- 
sions of  an  insurrection  of  the  new  Christians,  who 

7  Llorente,  Hist,  de  l'Inquisi-  De  Origine  Inquisitionis,  pp.  182. 
tion,  chap.  6,  art.  2,  3.  183.  —  Ferreras,  Hist.  d'Espagne, 

8  Llorente,  ubi  supra. —  Paramo,    torn.  viii.  pp.  37,  38. 


VOL.  II. 


•2 


10 


INTERNAL  AFFAIRS. 


part  had  so  often  been  the  objeets  of  outrage  ;  and  they 
— - —  could  only  be  appeased  by  the  archbishop  of  Sara* 
gossa,  riding  through  the  streets,  and  proclaiming 
that  no  time  should  be  lost  in  detecting  and  punish- 
ing the  assassins, 
cruet  perse-  This  promise  was  abundantly  fulfilled  :  and  wide 
was  the  ruin  occasioned  by  the  indefatigable  zeal, 
with  which  the  bloodhounds  of  the  tribunal  followed 
up  the  scent.  In  the  course  of  this  persecution, 
two  hundred  individuals  perished  at  the  stake,  and 
a  still  greater  number  in  the  dungeons  of  the  Inqui- 
sition ;  and  there  was  scarcely  a  noble  family  in 
Aragon  but  witnessed  one  or  more  of  its  members 
condemned  to  humiliating  penance  in  the  autos  da 
fe.  The  immediate  perpetrators  of  the  murder 
were  all  hanged,  after  suffering  the  amputation  of 
their  right  hands.  One,  who  had  appeared  as  evi- 
dence against  the  rest,  under  assurance  of  pardon, 
had  his  sentence  so  far  commuted,  that  his  hand 
was  not  cut  off  till  after  he  had  been  hanged.  It 
was  thus  that  the  Holy  Office  interpreted  its  prom- 
ises of  grace.9 

Arbues  received  all  the  honors  of  a  martyr.  His 
ashes  were  interred  on  the  spot  where  he  had  been 
assassinated.10    A  superb  mausoleum  was  erected 

9  Llorente,  Hist,  de  l'lnquisition,  none  of  the  conspirators  were  ever 

torn.  i.  chap.  6,  art.  5.  —  Blancas,  brought  to  trial,  they  all  perished 

Aragonensium  Rerum  Commenta-  miserably  within  a  year,  in  difler- 

rii,  (Caesaraugustae,  1588,)  p.  266.  ent  ways,  by  the  judgment  of  God. 

Among  those,  who  after  a  tedious  (Hist,  de  Espafia,  torn.  ii.  p.  368.) 

imprisonment  were  condemned  to  Unfortunately  for  the  effect  of  this 

do  penance  in  an  auto  da  fe,  was  a  moral,  Llorente,  who  consulted  the 

nephew  of  king  Ferdinand,  Don  original  processes,  must  be  receiv- 

James  of  Navarre.    Mariana,  wil-  ed  as  the  better  authority  of  the 

ling  to  point  the  tale  with  a  suitable  two. 

moral,  informs  us,  that,  although  10  According  to  Paramo,  when 


INQUISITION  IN  ARAGON. 


II 


over  them,  and,  beneath  his  effigy,  a  bas-relief  was  chapter 

.  XII. 

sculptured  representing  his  tragical  death,  with  an   

inscription  containing  a  suitable  denunciation  of  the 
race  of  Israel.  And  at  length,  when  the  lapse  of 
nearly  two  centuries  had  supplied  the  requisite 
amount  of  miracles,  the  Spanish  Inquisition  had  the 
glory  of  adding  a  new  saint  to  the  calendar,  by  the 
canonization  of  the  martyr  under  Pope  Alexander 
the  Seventh,  in  1664. 11 

The  failure  of  the  attempt  to  shake  off  the  tribu-  inquisition 

1  throughout 

nal,  served  only,  as  usual  in  such  cases,  to  establish  JomiSSo* 
it  more  firmly  than  before.  Efforts  at  resistance 
were  subsequently,  but  ineffectually,  made  in  other 
parts  of  Aragon,  and  in  Valencia  and  Catalonia. 
It  was  not  established  in  the  latter  province  till 
1487,  and  some  years  later  in  Sicily,  Sardinia,  and 
the  Balearic  Isles.  Thus  Ferdinand  had  the  mel- 
ancholy satisfaction  of  riveting  the  most  galling 
yoke  ever  devised  by  fanaticism,  round  the  necks 
of  a  people,  who  till  that  period  had  enjoyed  proba- 
bly the  greatest  degree  of  constitutional  freedom 
whichj  the  world  had  witnessed. 


the  corpse  of  the  inquisitor  was  de  l'lnquisition,  chap.  6,  art.  4. 

brought  to  the  place  where  he  had  France  and  Italy  also,  according  to 

been  assassinated,  the  blood,  which  Llorente,  could  each  boast  a  saint 

had  been  coagulated  on  the  pave-  inquisitor.     Their  renown,  how- 

ment,  smoked  up  and  boiled  with  ever,  has  been   eclipsed   by  the 

most  miraculous  fervor!    De  Ori-  superior  splendors  of  their  great 

gine  Inquisitionis,  p.  382.  master,  St.  Dominic  ; 

11  Paramo,  De  Origine  Inqui-  _ «  Fils  inconnua  d'un  si  glorieux  pere." 
sitionis,  p  183.  —  Llorente,  Hist. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 


WAR  OF  GRANADA.  —  SURRENDER  OF  VELEZ  MALAGA.— SIEGE 

AND  CONQUEST  OF  MALAGA. 

1487. 

Narrow  Escape  of  Ferdinand  before  Velez.  —  Malaga  invested  by  Sea 
and  Land.  —  Brilliant  Spectacle. — The  Queen  visits  the  Camp. — 
Attempt  to  assassinate  the  Sovereigns.  —  Distress  and  Resolution  of 
the  besieged.  —  Enthusiasm  of  the  Christians. — Outworks  carried 
by  them.  —  Proposals  for  Surrender.  —  Haughty  Demeanor  of  Fer- 
dinand.—  Malaga  surrenders  at  Discretion.  —  Cruel  Policy  of  the 
Victors. 

part        Before  commencing  operations  against  Malaga, 

.  . —  it  was  thought  expedient  by  the  Spanish  council  of 

war  to  obtain  possession  of  Velez  Malaga,  situated 
Position  of   about  five  leagues  distant  from  the  former.  This 

Velez  Mala-  o 

ga  strong  town  stood  along  the  southern  extremity  of 

a  range  of  mountains  that  extend  to  Granada.  Its 
position  afforded  an  easy  communication  with  that 
capital,  and  obvious  means  of  annoyance  to  an  ene- 
my interposed  between  itself  and  the  adjacent  city 
of  Malaga.  The  reduction  of  this  place,  therefore, 
became  the  first  object  of  the  campaign. 

The  forces  assembled  at  Cordova,  consisting  of 
the  levies  of  the  Andalusian  cities  principally,  of 
the  retainers  of  the  great  nobility,  and  of  the  well- 
appointed  chivalry  which  thronged  from  all  quarters 
of  the  kingdom,  amounted  on  this  occasion,  to 


CONQUEST  OF  MALAGA. 


13 


twelve  thousand  horse  and  forty  thousand  foot ;  a  chapter 

xiii 

number,  which  sufficiently  attests  the  unslackened   » — 

ardor  of  the  nation  in  the  prosecution  of  the  war. 
On  the  7th  of  April,  King  Ferdinand,  putting  14  87. 
himself  at  the  head  of  this  formidable  host,  quitted 
the  fair  city  of  Cordova  amid  the  cheering  acclama- 
tions of  its  inhabitants,  although  these  were  some- 
what damped  by  the  ominous  occurrence  of  an 
earthquake,  which  demolished  a  part  of  the  royal 
residence,  among  other  edifices,  during  the  preced- 
ing night.  The  route,  after  traversing  the  Yeguas 
and  the  old  town  of  Antequera,  struck  into  a  wild, 
hilly  country,  that  stretches  towards  Velez.  The 
rivers  were  so  much  swollen  by  excessive  rains, 
and  the  passes  so  rough  and  difficult,  that  the  army 
in  part  of  its  march  advanced  only  a  league  a  day ; 
and  on  one  occasion,  when  no  suitable  place  occur- 
red for  encampment  for  the  space  of  five  leagues, 
the  men  fainted  with  exhaustion,  and  the  beasts 
dropped  down  dead  in  the  harness.    At  length,  on  Army  before 

rr  t  to      1  Velez. 

the  17th  of  April,  the  Spanish  army  sat  down  be- 
fore Velez  Malaga,  where  in  a  few  days  they  were 
joined  by  the  lighter  pieces  of  their  battering  ord- 
nance ;  the  roads,  notwithstanding  the  immense 
labor  expended  on  them,  being  found  impracticable 
for  the  heavier.1 

The  Moors  were  aware  of  the  importance  of  £^!°fEI 
Velez  to  the  security  of  Malaga.    The  sensation 

1  Vedmar,  Antiguedad  y  Gran-  25,  cap.  10.  —  Pulgar,  Reyes  Ca- 

dezas  de   la  Ciudad  de   Velez,  tolicos,  part.  iii.  cap.  70.  —  Carba- 

(Granada,  1652,)  fol.  148.  —  Ma-  jal,  Anales,  MS.,  ano  1487.  —  Ble- 

riana,  Hist,  de  Espafia,  torn.  ii.  lib.  da,  Coronica,  lib.  5,  cap.  14. 


u 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


part  excited  in  Granada  by  the  tidings  of  its  danger 
- — - —  was  so  strong,  that  the  old  chief,  El  Zagal,  found 
it  necessary  to  make  an  effort  to  relieve  the  be- 
leaguered city,  notwithstanding  the  critical  posture 
in  which  his  absence  would  leave  his  affairs  in 
the  capital.  Dark  clouds  of  the  enemy  were  seen 
throughout  the  day  mustering  along  the  heights, 
which  by  night  were  illumined  with  a  hundred 
fires.  Ferdinand's  utmost  vigilance  was  required 
for  the  protection  of  his  camp  against  the  ambus- 
cades and  nocturnal  sallies  of  his  wily  foe.  At 
length,  however,  El  Zagal  having  been  foiled  in  a 
well-concerted  attempt  to  surprise  the  Christian 
quarters  by  night,  was  driven  across  the  mountains 
by  the  marquis  of  Cadiz,  and  compelled  to  retreat 
on  his  capital,  completely  baffled  in  his  enterprise. 
There  the  tidings  of  his  disaster  had  preceded  him. 
The  fickle  populace,  with  whom  misfortune  passes 
for  misconduct,  unmindful  of  his  former  successes, 
now  hastened  to  transfer  their  allegiance  to  his 
rival,  Abdallah,  and  closed  the  gates  against  him  ; 
and  the  unfortunate  chief  withdrew  to  Guadix, 
which,  with  Almeria,  Baza,  and  some  less  consider- 
able places,  still  remained  faithful.  2 

Ferdinand  conducted  the  siege  all  the  while  with 
his  usual  vigor,  and  spared  no  exposure  of  his  per- 
lNarrow  Es-  son  to  peril  or  fatigue.    On  one  occasion,  seeing 

cupe  of  Fer-  • 

dinand.      a  party  of  Christians  retreating  in  disorder  before  a 
squadron  of  the  enemy,  who  had  surprised  them 


2  Cardonne,  Hist.  d'Afrique  et    supra.  —  Vedmar,  Antiguedad  de 
d'Espagne,  torn.  iii.  pp.  292-294.    Velez,  fol.  151. 
—  Pulgar,  Reyes   Catolicos,  ubi 


CONQUEST  OF  MALAGA. 


15 


while  fortifying  an  eminence  near  the  city,  the  chapter 

king,  who  was  at  dinner  in  his  tent,  rushed  out  —  

with  no  other  defensive  armour  than  his  cuirass, 
and,  leaping  on  his  horse,  charged  briskly  into  the 
midst  of  the  enemy,  and  succeeded  in  rallying  his 
nwn  men.  In  the  midst  of  the  rencontre,  howf- 
ever,  when  he  had  discharged  his  lance,  he  found 
himself  unable  to  extricate  his  sword  from  the  scab- 
bard which  hung  from  the  saddle-bow.  At  this 
moment  he  was  assaulted  by  several  Moors,  and 
must  have  been  either  slain  or  taken,  but  for  the 
timely  rescue  of  the  marquis  of  Cadiz,  and  a  brave 
cavalier,  Garcilasso  de  la  Vega,  who  galloping  up 
to  the  spot  with  their  attendants,  succeeded  after  a 
sharp  skirmish  in  beating  off  the  enemy.  Ferdi- 
nand's nobles  remonstrated  with  him  on  this  wan- 
ton exposure  of  his  person,  representing  that  he 
could  serve  them  more  effectually  with  his  head 
than  his  hand.  But  he  answered,  that  "  he  could 
not  stop  to  calculate  chances,  when  his  subjects 
were  perilling  their  lives  for  his  sake  ; "  a  reply, 
says  Pulgar,  which  endeared  him  to  the  whole 
army. 3 

At  length,  the  inhabitants  of  Velez,  seeing:  the  surrender  of 

°      7  '  O  Velez. 

ruin  impending  from  the  bombardment  of  the  Chris- 
tians, whose  rigorous  blockade  both  by  sea  and 
land  excluded  all  hopes  of  relief  from  without, 

3  L.  Marineo,  Cosas  Memora-  the  city  incorporated  into  its  es- 

bles,  fol.  175.  —  Vedmar,   Anti-  cutcheon  the  figure  of  a  king  on 

gucdad  de  Velez,  fol.  150,  151. —  horseback,  in  the  act  of  piercing  a 

Marmol,  Rebelion  de  Moriscos,  lib.  Moor  with  his  Javelin.  Vedmar 

1,  cap.  14.  Antiguedad  de  Velez,  fol.  12. 

Tn  commemoration  of  this  event, 


16 


WAR  OF  GRAiNADA. 


part     consented  to  capitulate  on  the  usual  conditions  of 

 ■        security  to  persons,  property,  and  religion.  The 

capitulation  of  this  place,  April  27th,  1487,  was 
followed  by  that  of  more  than  twenty  places  of  in- 
ferior note  lying  between  it  and  Malaga,  so  that 
the  approaches  to  this  latter  city  were  now  left 
open  to  the  victorious  Spaniards.  4 
Description       This  ancient  city,   which,  under  the  Spanish 

of  Malaga.  .  .  . 

Arabs  in  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries,  form- 
ed the  capital  of  an  independent  principality,  was 
second  only  to  the  metropolis  itself,  in  the  kingdom 
of  Granada.  Its  fruitful  environs  furnished  abun- 
dant articles  of  export,  w  hile  its  commodious  port 
on  the  Mediterranean  opened  a  traffic  with  the  va- 
rious countries  washed  by  that  inland  sea,  and  witli 
the  remoter  regions  of  India.  Owing  to  these  ad- 
vantages, the  inhabitants  acquired  unbounded  opu- 
lence, which  showed  itself  in  the  embellishments  of 
their  city,  whose  light  forms  of  architecture,  min- 
gling after  the  eastern  fashion  with  odoriferous  gar- 
dens and  fountains  of  sparkling  water,  presented  an 
appearance  most  refreshing  to  the  senses  in  this 
sultry  climate. 5 

The  city  was  encompassed  by  fortifications  of 
great  strength,  and  in  perfect  repair.  It  was  com- 
manded by  a  citadel,  connected  by  a  covered  way 

4  Bernaldez,  Reyes  Cat61icos,  mology  is  sufficiently  pertinent. 
MS.,  cap.  52.  —  Marmol,  Rebelion  (See  El  Nubiense,  Description  de 
de  Moriscos,  lib.  1,  cap.  14.  Espafia,  p.  186,  not.)     For  no- 

5  Conde    doubts    whether    the  tices  of  sovereigns  who  swayed  the 
name  of  Malaga  is  derived  from  sceptre    of  Malaga,    see  Casiri, 
the    Greek    ^aXa**,     signifying  Bibliotheca  Escurialensis.  torn.  ii. 
"  agreeable,"  or  the  Arabic  malka,  pp.  41,  56,  99,  et  alibi, 
meaning  "  royal."      Either  etv- 


CONQUEST  OF  MALAGA. 


17 


with  a  second  fortress  impregnable  from  its  posi-  chapter 
tion,  denominated  Gebalfaro,  which  stood  along  the  — XIIL  ■ 
declivities  of  the  bold  sierra  of  the  Axarquia,  whose 
defiles  had  proved  so  disastrous  to  the  Christians. 
The  city  lay  between  two  spacious  suburbs,  the 
one  on  the  land  side  being  also  encircled  by  a  for- 
midable wall ;  and  the  other  declining  towards  the 
sea,  showing  an  expanse  of  olive,  orange,  and 
pomegranate  gardens,  intermingled  with  the  rich 
vineyards  that  furnished  the  celebrated  staple  for 
its  export. 

Malaga  was  well  prepared  for  a  siege  by  supplies 
of  artillery  and  ammunition.  Its  ordinary  garrison 
was  reinforced  by  volunteers  from  the  neighbouring 
towns,  and  by  a  corps  of  African  mercenaries,  Go- 
meres,  as  they  were  called,  men  of  ferocious  tem- 
per, but  of  tried  valor  and  military  discipline.  The 
command  of  this  important  post  had  been  intrusted 
by  El  Zagal  to  a  noble  Moor,  named  Hamet  Zeli, 
whose  renown  in  the  present  war  had  been  estab- 
lished by  his  resolute  defence  of  Ronda.  6 

Ferdinand,  while  lying  before  Velez,  received 
intelligence  that  many  of  the  wealthy  burghers  of 
Malaga  were  inclined  ,to  capitulate  at  once,  rather 
than  hazard  the  demolition  of  their  city  by  an  ob- 
stinate resistance.  He  instructed  the  marquis  of 
Cadiz,  therefore,  to  open  a  negotiation  with  Hamet 
Zeli,  authorizing  him  to  make  the  most  liberal  of- 
fers to  the  alcayde  himself,  as  well  as  his  garrison, 

6  Contle,  Dominacion    de  los    El  Nubiense,  Descripeion  de  Es- 
Arabes,  torn.  iii.  p.  237. — Pul-    pafia,  not.,  p.  144. 
frar,  Reyes  Catolicos,  cap.  74. — 


VOL.  II. 


3 


18 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


part  and  the  principal  citizens  of  the  place,  on  condition 
— . —  of  immediate  surrender.  The  sturdy  chief,  how- 
ever, rejected  the  proposal  with  disdain,  replying, 
that  he  had  been  commissioned  by  his  master  to 
defend  the  place  to  the  last  extremity,  and  that  the 
Christian  king  could  not  offer  a  bribe  large  enough 
to  make  him  betray  his  trust.  Ferdinand,  finding 
little  prospect  of  operating  on  this  Spartan  temper, 
broke  up  his  camp  before  Velez,  on  the  7th  of 
May,  and  advanced  with  his  whole  army  as  far  as 
Bezmillana,  a  place  on  the  sea-board  about  two 
leagues  distant  from  Malaga.7 

The  line  of  march  now  lay  through  a  valley  com- 
manded at  the  extremity  nearest  the  city  by  two 
eminences  ;  the  one  on  the  sea- coast,  the  other  fa- 
cing the  fortress  of  the  Gebalfaro,  and  forming  part 
of  the  wild  sierra  which  overshadowed  Malaga  on 
the  north.  The  enemy  occupied  both  these  impor- 
tant positions.  A  corps  of  Galicians  were  sent  for- 
ward to  dislodge  them  from  the  eminence  towards 
the  sea.  But  it  failed  in  the  assault,  and,  notwith- 
standing it  was  led  up  a  second  time  by  the  com- 
mander of  Leon  and  the  brave  Garcilasso  de  la 
Vega,9  was  again  repulsed  by  the  intrepid  foe. 


7  Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catolicos,  puted  to  him  a  chivalrous  rencontre 
MS.,  cap.  82. — Vedmar,  Antigue-  with  a  Saracen,  which  is  record- 
dad  de  Velez,  fol.  154.  —  Pulgar,  ed  of  an  ancestor,  in  the  ancient 
Reyes  Catolicos,  cap.  74.  Chronicle  of  Alonso  XI. 

f  This  cavalier,  Who  took  a  con-  «Garcilaso  de  la  Ve?a 

Bpicuous  part  both  in  the  military  desde  alii  se  ha  intitulado, 

and  civil  transactions  of  this  reign,  porqueen  la  Vega  hiciera 

was  descended  from  one   of  the  campo  con  aquel  pagano." 

most  ancient  and  honorable  houses  Oviedo,  however,  with  good  rea- 

in  Castile.   Hyta,  (Guerras  Civiles  son,  distrusts  the  etymology  and 

de  Granada,  torn.  1.  p.  399.)  with  the  story,  as  he  traces  both  the 

more  effrontery  than  usual,  has  im-  cognomen  and  the  peculiar  device 


CONQUEST  OF  MALAGA. 


19 


A  similar  fate  attended  the  assault  on  the  sierra,  chapter 
which  was  conducted  by  the  troops  of  the  royal  — ^ — 
household.  They  were  driven  back  on  the  van-  contrrPe.ren" 
guard,  which  had  halted  in  the  valley  under  com- 
mand of  the  grand  master  of  St.  James,  prepared 
to  support  the  attack  on  either  side.  Being  rein- 
forced, the  Spaniards  returned  to  the  charge  with 
the  most  determined  resolution.  They  were  en- 
countered by  the  enemy  with  equal  spirit.  The  lat- 
ter, throwing  away  their  lances,  precipitated  them- 
selves on  the  ranks  of  the  assailants,  making  use 
only  of  their  daggers,  grappling  closely  man  to 
man,  till  both  rolled  promiscuously  together  down 
the  steep  sides  of  the  ravine.  No  mercy  was  ask- 
ed, or  shown.  None  thought  of  sparing  or  of  spoil- 
ing, for  hatred,  says  the  chronicler,  was  stronger 
than  avarice.  The  main  body  of  the  army,  in  the 
mean  while,  pent  up  in  the  valley,  were  compelled 
to  witness  the  mortal  conflict,  and  listen  to  the  ex- 
ulting cries  of  the  enemy,  which,  after  the  Moorish 
custom,  rose  high  and  shrill  above  the  din  of  battle, 
without  being  able  to  advance  a  step  in  support  of 
their  companions,  who  were  again  forced  to  give 
way  before  their  impetuous  adversaries,  and  fall 
back  on  the  vanguard  under  the  grand  master  of 
St.  James.  Here,  however,  they  speedily  rallied  ; 
and,  being  reinforced,  advanced  to  the  charge  a  third 
time,  with  such  inflexible  courage  as  bore  down  all 
opposition,  and  compelled  the  enemy,  exhausted,  or 
rather  overpowered  by  superior  numbers,  to  aban- 


of  the  family  to  a  much  older  date  Chronicle.  Quincuag-enas,  MS., 
than  the  period  assigned  in  the    bat.  1,  quinc.  3,  dial.  43, 


20 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


PART 

I. 


Miiaga  in- 
vested by 
9ca  and  land 


don  his  position.  At  the  same  time  the  rising 
ground  on  the  seaside  was  carried  by  the  Spaniards 
under  the  commander  of  Leon  and  Garcilasso  de  la 
Vega,  who,  dividing  their  forces,  charged  the  Moors 
so  briskly  in  front  and  rear,  that  they  were  compel- 
led to  retreat  on  the  neighbouring  fortress  of  Ge- 
balfaro. 9 

As  it  was  evening  before  these  advantages  were 
obtained,  the  army  did  not  defile  into  the  plains 
around  Malaga,  before  the  following  morning,  when 
dispositions  were  made  for  its  encampment.  The 
eminence  on  the  sierra,  so  bravely  contested,  was 
assigned  as  the  post  of  greatest  danger  to  the  mar- 
quis duke  of  Cadiz.  It  was  protected  by  strong 
works  lined  with  artillery,  and  a  corps  of  two 
thousand  five  hundred  horse  and  fourteen  thousand 
foot,  was  placed  under  the  immediate  command  of 
that  nobleman.  A  line  of  defence  was  constructed 
along  the  declivity  from  this  redoubt  to  the  sea- 
shore. Similar  works,  consisting  of  a  deep  trench 
and  palisades,  or,  where  the  soil  was  too  rocky  to 
admit  of  them,  of  an  embankment  or  mound  of 
earth,  were  formed  in  front  of  the  encampment, 
which  embraced  the  whole  circuit  of  the  city  ;  and 
the  blockade  was  completed  by  a  fleet  of  armed 
vessels,  galleys  and  caravels,  which  rode  in  the 
harbour  under  the  command  of  the  Catalan  admiral, 
Requesens,  and  effectually  cut  ofT  all  communication 
by  water.10 


9  Pulgar,  Reyes  Catolicos,  cap.  MS.,  cap.  83.  —  Pulgar,  Reyes  Ca- 
75. —  Salazar  de  Mendoza,  Cr6n.  tolicos,  cap.  7G.  —  Carbajal,  Ana- 
del  Gran  Cardenal,  lib.  1,  cap.  64.  'es,  MS.,  atlo  1487. 

W  Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catolicos, 


CONQUEST  OF  MALAGA. 


21 


The  old  chronicler  Bernaldez  warms  at  the  as-  chapter 

xiii. 

pect  of  the  fair  city  of  Malaga,  thus  encompassed   — -  * 

l r      ™     •     •         1       •  1_  j  |*  V  ,  .  Brilliant 

by  Christian  legions,  whose  deep  lines,  stretching  ■p««aei«. 
far  over  hill  and  valley,  reached  quite  round  from 
one  arm  of  the  sea  to  the  other.  In  the  midst  of 
this  brilliant  encampment  was  seen  the  royal  pavil- 
ion, proudly  displaying  the  united  banners  of  Cas- 
tile and  Aragon,  and  forming  so  conspicuous  a  mark 
for  the  enemy's  artillery,  that  Ferdinand,  after  im- 
minent hazard,  was  at  length  compelled  to  shift  his 
quarters.  The  Christians  were  not  slow  in  erecting 
counter  batteries  ;  but  the  work  was  obliged  to  be 
carried  on  at  night,  in  order  to  screen  them  from 
the  fire  of  the  besieged.11 

The  first  operations  of  the  Spaniards  were  di- 
rected against  the  suburb,  on  the  land  side  of  the 
city.  The  attack  was  intrusted  to  the  count  of 
Cifuentes,  the  nobleman  who  had  been  made  pris- 
oner in  the  affair  of  the  Axarquia,  and  subsequently 
ransomed.  The  Spanish  ordnance  was  served  with 
such  effect,  that  a  practicable  breach  was  soon  made 
in  the  wall.  The  combatants  nowT  poured  their 
murderous  volleys  on  each  other  through  the  open- 
ing, and  at  length  met  on  the  ruins  of  the  breach. 
After  a  desperate  struggle  the  Moors  gave  way. 
The  Christians  rushed  into  the  enclosure,  at  the 
same  time  effecting  a  lodgment  on  the  rampart ; 
and,  although  a  part  of  it,  undermined  by  the  enc- 

11  Pulgar,  Reyes  Catolicos,  ubi  supra.  —  Bernaldez,  Reyes  Cat61icos, 
MS.,  ubi  supra. 


t 


22 


WAR  OF  GRANADA 


prepara 
tioiu 


part     my,  gave  way  with  a  terrible  crash,  they  still  kept 

—        possession  of  the  remainder,  and  at  length  drove 

their  antagonists,  who  sullenly  retreated  step  by 
step  within  the  fortifications  of  the  city.  The 
lines  were  then  drawn  close  around  the  place. 
Every  avenue  of  communication  was  strictly  guard- 
ed, and  every  preparation  was  made  for  reducing 
the  town  by  regular  blockade.12 
w£SS?  'n  addition  t0  tne  cannon  brought  round  by 
water  from  Velez,  the  heavier  lombards,  which 
from  the  difficulty  of  transportation  had  been  left 
during  the  late  siege  at  Antequera,  were  now  con- 
ducted across  roads,  levelled  for  the  purpose,  to  the 
camp.  Supplies  of  marble  bullets  were  also  brought 
from  the  ancient  and  depopulated  city  of  Algezira, 
where  they  had  lain  ever  since  its  capture  in  the 
preceding  century  by  Alfonso  the  Eleventh.  The 
camp  was  filled  with  operatives,  employed  in  the 
manufacture  of  balls  and  pow  der,  which  were  stored 
in  subterranean  magazines,  and  in  the  fabrication 
of  those  various  kinds  of  battering  enginery,  which 
continued  in  use  long  after  the  introduction  of  gun- 
powder. 13 

During  the  early  part  of  the  siege,  the  camp  ex- 
perienced some  temporary  inconvenience  from  the 
occasional  interruption  of  the  supplies  transported 
by  water.  Rumors  of  the  appearance  of  the  plague 
in  some  of  the  adjacent  villages  caused  additional 

12  Peter  Martyr,  Opus  Epist.,  do,  Quincuagenas,  MS.,  bat.  J, 

lib.  1,  epist.  63.  —  Pulgar,  Reyes  quinc.  I,  dial.  36. 
Catolicos,  cap.  76.  —  Bernaldez,       13  Pulgar,  Reyes  Catolicos,  cap. 

Reyes  Catolicos,  cap.  83.  —  Ovie-  76. 


CONQUEST  OF  MALAGA. 


23 


uneasiness;  and  deserters,  who  passed  into  Malaga,  chapter 

•  XIII 

reported  these  particulars  with  the  usual  exaggera-  .  ■ — 

tion,  and  encouraged  the  besieged  to  persevere, 
by  the  assurance  that  Ferdinand  could  not  much 
longer  keep  the  field,  and  that  the  queen  had  act- 
ually written  to  advise  his  breaking  up  the  camp. 
Under  these  circumstances,  Ferdinand  saw  at  once 
the  importance  of  the  queen's  presence  in  order  to 
dispel  the  delusion  of  the  enemy,  and  to  give  new 
heart  to  his  soldiers.  He  accordingly  sent  a  mes- 
sage to  Cordova,  where  she  was  holding  her  court, 
requesting  her  appearance  in  the  camp. 

Isabella  had  proposed  to  join  her  husband  before  The  queen 

11  J  visits  the 

Velez,  on  receiving  tidings  of  El  ZagaPs  march  aunp- 
from  Granada,  and  had  actually  enforced  levies  of  all 
persons  capable  of  bearing  arms,  between  twenty 
and  seventy  years  of  age,  throughout  Andalusia,  but 
subsequently  disbanded  them,  on  learning  the  dis- 
comfiture of  the  Moorish  army.  Without  hesitation, 
she  now  set  forward,  accompanied  by  the  cardinal  of 
Spain  and  other  dignitaries  of  the  church,  togeth- 
er with  the  Infanta  Isabella,  and  a  courtly  train  of 
ladies  and  cavaliers  in  attendance  on  her  person. 
She  was  received  at  a  short  distance  from  the 
camp  by  the  marquis  of  Cadiz  and  the  grand- 
master of  St.  James,  and  escorted  to  her  quarters 
amidst  the  enthusiastic  greetings  of  the  soldiery. 
Hope  now  brightened  every  countenance.  A  grace 
seemed  to  be  shed  over  the  rugged  features  of 
war ;  and  the  young  gallants  thronged  from  all 
quarters  to  the  camp,  eager  to  win  the  guerdon  of 


24 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


part     valor  from  the  hands  of  those  from  whom  it  is  most 

 .        grateful  to  receive  it.  14 

Ferdinand,  who  had  hitherto  brought  into  action 
only  the  lighter  pieces  of  ordnance,  from  a  willing- 
ness to  spare  the  noble  edifices  of  the  city,  now 
feummona  of  pointed  his  heaviest  guns  against  its  walls.  Before 

the  town.  o  o 

opening  his  fire,  however,  he  again  summoned  the 
place,  offering  the  usual  liberal  terms  in  case  of 
immediate  compliance,  and  engaging  otherwise, 
"  with  the  blessing  of  God,  to  make  them  all 
slaves  "  !  But  the  heart  of  the  alcayde  was  hard- 
ened like  that  of  Pharaoh,  says  the  Andalusian 
chronicler,  and  the  people  were  swelled  with  vain 
hopes,  so  that  their  ears  were  closed  against  the 
proposal  ;  orders  wrere  even  issued  to  punish  with 
death  any  attempt  at  a  parley.  On  the  contrary, 
they  made  answer  by  a  more  lively  cannonade  than 
before,  along  the  whole  line  of  ramparts  and  for- 
tresses which  overhung  the  city.  Sallies  were  also 
made  at  almost  every  hour  of  the  day  and  night  on 
every  assailable  point  of  the  Christian  lines,  so 
that  the  camp  was  kept  in  perpetual  alarm.  In 
one  of  the  nocturnal  sallies,  a  body  of  two  thou- 
sand men  from  the  castle  of  Gebalfaro  succeeded 
Danger  of    in  surprising  the  quarters  of  the  marquis  of  Cadiz, 

the  marquis  ,  .  \ 

of  Cadiz.  who,  with  his  lollowers,  was  exhausted  by  fatigue 
and  watching,  during  the  two  preceding  nights. 
The  Christians,  bewildered  with  the  sudden  tumult 
which  broke  their  slumber,  were  thrown  into  the 


14  Salazar  de    Mendoza,   Cron.    70.  —  Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catolicos, 
del  Gran  Cardenal,  lib.  1,  cap.  64.    MS.,  cap.  83. 
—  Zurita,  Anales,  torn.  iv.  cap. 


CONQUEST  OF  MALAGA. 


25 


greatest  confusion  ;  and  the  marquis,  who  rushed  chapteb 
half  armed  from  his  tent,  found  no  little  difficulty  — — 
in  bringing  them  to  order,  and  beating  off  the  as- 
sailants, after  receiving  a  wound  in  the  arm  from 
an  arrow ;  while  he  had  a  still  narrower  escape 
from  the  ball  of  an  arquebus,  that  penetrated  his 
buckler  and  hit  him  below  the  cuirass,  but  fortu- 
nately so  much  spent  as  to  do  him  no  injury. 15 

The  Moors  were  not  unmindful  of  the  impor-  cm  ttma 

of  the  Moors. 

tance  of  Malaga,  or  the  gallantry  with  which  it  was 
defended.  They  made  several  attempts  to  relieve 
it,  whose  failure  was  less  owing  to  the  Christians 
than  to  treachery  and  their  own  miserable  feuds. 
A  body  of  cavalry,  which  El  Zagal  despatched 
from  Guadix  to  throw  succours  into  the  beleaguer- 
ed city,  was  encountered  and  cut  to  pieces  by  a 
superior  force  of  the  young  king  Abdallah,  who 
consummated  his  baseness  by  sending  an  embassy 
to  the  Christian  camp,  charged  with  a  present  of 
Arabian  horses  sumptuously  caparisoned  to  Ferdi- 
nand, and  of  costly  silks  and  oriental  perfumes  to 
the  queen  ;  at  the  same  time  complimenting  them 
on  their  successes,  and  soliciting  the  continuance  of 
their  friendly  dispositions  towards  himself.  Ferdi- 
nand and  Isabella  requited  this  act  of  humiliation 
by  securing  to  Abdallah's  subjects  the  right  of 
cultivating  their  fields  in  quiet,  and  of  trafficking 
with  the  Spaniards  in  every  commodity,  save  mili- 
tary stores.    At  this  paltry  price  did  the  dastard 

!5  Blcda,  Cor6nica,  lib.  5,  cap.  Reyes  Catolicos,  MS.,  cap.  83. — 
15  —  Conde,  Dominacion,  torn.  Pulgar,  Reyes  Catolicos,  cap.  ~'J. 
iv.  pp.   237,  238.  —  Bernaldez, 

VOL.  II.  4 


2fi 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


part     prince  consent  to  stay  his  arm,  at  the  only  moment 


L 


16 


when  it  could  be  used  effectually  for  his  country 
mSlte0  More  serious  consequences  were  like  to  have  re- 
uuu". ver"  suited  from  an  attempt  made  by  another  party  of 
Moors  from  Guadix  to  penetrate  the  Christian  lines. 
Part  of  them  succeeded,  and  threw  themselves 
into  the  besieged  city.  The  remainder  were  cut 
in  pieces.  There  was  one,  however,  who  making 
no  show  of  resistance,  was  made  prisoner  without 
harm  to  his  person.  Being  brought  before  the 
marquis  of  Cadiz,  he  informed  that  nobleman,  that 
he  could  make  some  important  disclosures  to  the 
sovereigns.  He  was  accordingly  conducted  to  the 
royal  tent ;  but,  as  Ferdinand  was  taking  his  siesta, 
in  the  sultry  hour  of  the  day,  the  queen,  moved  by 
divine  inspiration,  according  to  the  Castilian  histo- 
rian, deferred  the  audience  till  her  husband  should 
awake,  and  commanded  the  prisoner  to  be  detained 
in  the  adjoining  tent.  This  was  occupied  by  Doila 
Beatriz  de  Bobadilla,  marchioness  of  Moya,  Isabel- 
la's early  friend,  who  happened  to  be  at  that  time 
engaged  in  discourse  with  a  Portuguese  nobleman* 
Don  Alvaro,  son  of  the  duke  of  Braganza. 17 


!6  Pulgar,  Reyes  Catolicos,  ubi  African  monarch  with  a  plate  of 

supra.  gold,  on  which  the  royal  arms 

During  the  siege,  ambassadors  were   curiously   embossed,  says 

arrived  from  an  African  potentate,  Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catolicos,  cap. 

the  king  of  Tremecen,  bearing  a  84. 

magnificent  present  to  the  Castil-  n  This  nobleman,  Don  Alvaro 

ian  sovereigns,  interceding  for  the  de  Portugal,  had  fled  his  native 

Malagans,  and  at  the  same  time  country,  and  sought  an  asylum  in 

asking  protection  for  his  subjects  Castile  from  the  vindictive  enmity 

from  the  Spanish  cruisers  in  the  of  John  II.,  who  had  put  to  death 

Mediterranean.    The    sovereigns  the  duke  of  Braganza,  his  elder 

graciously  complied  with  the  hit-  brother.    lie  was  kindly  received 

ter  request,  and  complimented  the  by  Isabella,  to  whom  he  was  near- 


CONQUEST  OF  MALAGA. 


27 


The  Moor  did  not  understand  the  Castilian  lan-  chapter 

•  •  •  XIII 

guage,  and,  deceived  by  the  rich  attire  and  courtly   '■ — 

bearing  of  these  personages,  *  he  mistook  them  for 
the  king  and  queen.  While  in  the  act  of  refresh- 
ing himself  with  a  glass  of  water,  he  suddenly 
drew  a  dagger  from  beneath  the  broad  folds  of  his 
albornoz,  or  Moorish  mantle,  which  he  had  been 
incautiously  suffered  to  retain,  and,  darting  on  the 
Portuguese  prince,  gave  him  a  deep  wound  on  the 
head  ;  and  then,  turning  like  lightning  on  the 
marchioness,  aimed  a  stroke  at  her,  which  fortu- 
nately glanced  without  injury,  the  point  of  the 
weapon  being  turned  by  the  heavy  embroidery  of 
her  robes.  Before  he  could  repeat  his  blow,  the 
Moorish  Sceevola,  with  a  fate  very  different  from 
that  of  his  Roman  prototype,  was  pierced  with  a 
hundred  wounds  by  the  attendants,  who  rushed  to 
the  spot,  alarmed  by  the  cries  of  the  marchioness, 
and  his  mangled  remains  were  soon  after  discharg- 
ed from  a  catapult  into  the  city  ;  a  foolish  bravado, 
which  the  besieged  requited  by  slaying  a  Galician 
gentleman,  and  sending  his  corpse  astride  upon  a 
mule  through  the  gates  of  the  town  into  the  Chris- 
tian camp.  18 

This  daring  attempt  on  the  lives  of  the  king  and 
queen  spread  general  consternation  throughout  the 
army.    Precautions  were  taken  for  the  future,  by 

ly  related,  and  subsequently  pre-  bat.  1,  quinc.  1,  dial.  23. — Peter 

ferred  to  several  important  offices  Martyr,  Opus  Epist.,  lib.  1,  epist. 

of  state.     His  son,  the  count  of  63.  —  Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catolicos, 

Gelves,  married  a  granddaughter  MS.,  cap.  84.  —  Bleda,  Coronica 

of  Christopher  Columbus.  Oviedo,  de  los  Moros,  lib.  5,  cap.  15.  —  L. 

Quincuagenas,  MS.  Marineo,   Cosas  Memorables,  fol. 

!8  Oviedo,  Quincuagenas,  MS.,  175,  176. 


28 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


part  ordinances  prohibiting  the  introduction  of  any  un- 
.. — - —  known  person  armed,  or  any  Moor  whatever,  into 
the  royal  quarters ;  and  the  body-guard  was  aug- 
mented by  the  addition  of  two  hundred  hidalgos  of 
Castile  and  Aragon,  who,  with  their  retainers,  were 
to  keep  constant  watch  over  the  persons  of  the 
sovereigns. 

Distress  and      Meanwhile,  the  citv  of  Malaga,  whose  natural 

resolution  of  'J  o 

the  besieged,  population  was  greatly  swelled  by  the  influx  of  its 
foreign  auxiliaries,  began  to  be  straitened  for  sup- 
plies, while  its  distress  was  aggravated  by  the  spec- 
tacle of  abundance  which  reigned  throughout  the 
Spanish  camp.  Still,  however,  the  people,  over- 
awed by  the  soldiery,  did  not  break  out  into  mur- 
murs, nor  did  they  relax  in  any  degree  the  perti- 
nacity of  their  resistance.  Their  drooping  spirits 
were  cheered  by  the  predictions  of  a  fanatic,  who 
promised  that  they  should  eat  the  grain  which  they 
saw  in  the  Christian  camp ;  a  prediction,  which 
came  to  be  verified,  like  most  others  that  are  veri- 
fied at  all,  in  a  very  different  sense  from  that  in- 
tended or  understood. 

The  incessant  cannonade  kept  up  by  the  besieg- 
ing army,  in  the  mean  time,  so  far  exhausted  their 
ammunition,  that  they  were  constrained  to  seek 
supplies  from  the  most  distant  parts  of  the  king- 
dom, and  from  foreign  countries.  The  arrival  of 
two  Flemish  transports  at  this  juncture,  from  the 
emperor  of  Germany,  whose  interest  had  been 
roused  in  the  crusade,  afforded  a  seasonable  rein- 
forcement of  military  stores  and  munitions. 

The  obstinate  defence  of  Malaga  had  given  the 


CONQUEST  OF  MALAGA. 


29 


siege  such  celebrity,  that  volunteers,  eager  to  share  chapter 

XIII. 

in  it,  flocked  from  all  parts  of  the  Peninsula  to  the   ■ — 

royal  standard.  Among  others,  the  duke  of  Medina  ofihecw*- 
Sidonia,  who  had  furnished  his  quota  of  troops  at 
the  opening  of  the  campaign,  now  arrived  in  person 
with  a  reinforcement,  together  with  a  hundred  gal- 
leys freighted  with  supplies,  and  a  loan  of  twenty 
thousand  doblas  of  gold  to  the  sovereigns  for  the 
expenses  of  the  war.  Such  was  the  deep  interest 
in  it  excited  throughout  the  nation,  and  the  alac- 
rity which  every  order  of  men  exhibited  in  sup- 
porting its  enormous  burdens.19 

The  Castilian  army,  swelled  by  these  daily  aug-  Discipline 

J  7  *  ✓         O      the  army. 

mentations,  varied  in  its  amount,  according  to  dif- 
ferent estimates,  from  sixty  to  ninety  thousand  men. 
Throughout  this  immense  host,  the  most  perfect 
discipline  was  maintained.  Gaming  was  restrained 
by  ordinances  interdicting  the  use  of  dice  and 
cards,  of  which  the  lower  orders  were  passionately 
fond.  Blasphemy  was  severely  punished.  Prosti- 
tutes, the  common  pest  of  a  camp,  were  excluded  ; 
and  so  entire  was  the  subordination,  that  not  a 
knife  was  drawn,  and  scarcely  a  brawl  occurred, 
says  the  historian,  among  the  motley  multitude. 
Besides  the  higher  ecclesiastics  who  attended  the 
court,  the  camp  was  well  supplied  with  holy  men, 
priests,  friars,  and  the  chaplains  of  the  great  nobil- 
ity, who  performed  the  exercises  of  religion  in  their 
respective  quarters  with  all  the  pomp  and  splendor 

!9  Pulgar,  Reyes  Catolicos,  cap.  87  -  89.  —  Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catoli- 
cos,  MS.,  cap.  84. 


30 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


fart     of  the  Roman  Catholic  worship  ;  exalting  the  im- 
— — —  aginations  of  the  soldiers  into  the  high  devotional 
feeling,  which  became  those  who  were  fighting  the 
battles  of  the  Cross.20 

Hitherto,  Ferdinand  relying  on  the  blockade,  and 
yielding  to  the  queen's  desire  to  spare  the  lives  of 
her  soldiers,  had  formed  no  regular  plan  of  assault 
upon  the  town.  But,  as  the  season  rolled  on  with- 
out the  least  demonstration  of  submission  on  the 
part  of  the  besieged,  he  resolved  to  storm  the 
works,  which,  if  attended  by  no  other  conse- 
quences, might  at  least  serve  to  distress  the  enemy, 
and  hasten  the  hour  of  surrender.  Large  wooden 
towers  on  rollers  were  accordingly  constructed,  and 
provided  with  an  apparatus  of  drawbridges  and  lad- 
ders, which,  when  brought  near  to  the  ramparts 
would  open  a  descent  into  the  city.  Galleries  were 
also  wrought,  some  for  the  purpose  of  penetrating 
into  the  place,  and  others  to  sap  the  foundations  of 
the  walls.  The  whole  of  these  operations  was 
placed  under  the  direction  of  Francisco  Ramirez, 
the  celebrated  engineer  of  Madrid, 
oenerai  But  the  Moors  anticipated  the  completion  of 
these  formidable  preparations  by  a  brisk,  well  con- 
certed attack  on  all  points  of  the  Spanish  lines. 
They  countermined  the  assailants,  and,  encounter- 
ing them  in  the  subterraneous  passages,  drove  them 
back,  and  demolished  the  frame-work  of  the  gal- 
leries. At  the  same  time,  a  little  squadron  of  armed 
vessels,  which  had  been  riding  in  safety  under  the 

20  Bernaldez,  Reyes  Cat61i;os,  MS.,  cap.  87.  —  Pulgar,  Reyes  Ca- 
t61icos,  cap.  71. 


CONQUEST  OF  MALAGA. 


31 


guns  of  the  city,  pushed  out  and  engaged  the  Span-  chapter 

ish  fleet.    Thus  the  battle  raged  with  fire  and   *"L 

sword,  above  and  under  ground,  along  the  ramparts, 
the  ocean,  and  the  land,  at  the  same  time.  Even 
Pulgar  cannot  withhold  his  tribute  of  admiration  to 
this  unconquerable  spirit  in  an  enemy,  wasted  by 
all  the  extremities  of  famine  and  fatigue.  "  Who 
does  not  marvel,"  he  says,  "  at  the  bold  heart  of 
these  infidels  in  battle,  their  prompt  obedience  to 
their  chiefs,  their  dexterity  in  the  wiles  of  war, 
their  patience  under  privation,  and  undaunted  per- 
severance in  their  purposes?"21 

A  circumstance  occurred  in  a  sortie  from  the  city,  Generosity 

J      of  a  Moorish 

indicating  a  trait  of  character  worth  recording.  A  knighu 
noble  Moor,  named  Abrahen  Zenete  fell  in  with  a 
number  of  Spanish  children  who  had  wandered 
from  their  quarters.  Without  injuring  them,  he 
touched  them  gently  with  the  handle  of  his  lance, 
saying,  "  Get  ye  gone,  varlets,  to  your  mothers." 
On  being  rebuked  by  his  comrades,  who  inquired 
why  he  had  let  them  escape  so  easily,  he  replied, 
"  Because  I  saw  no  beard  upon  their  chins."  "  An 
example  of  magnanimity,"  says  the  Curate  of  Los 
Palacios,  "  truly  wonderful  in  a  heathen,  and  which 
might  have  reflected  credit  on  a  Christian  hi- 
dalgo."22 

21  Conde,  Dominacion  de  los  The  honest  exclamation  of  the 
Arabes,  torn.  hi.  pp.  237,  238.  —  Curate  brings  to  mind  the  similar 
Pulgar,  Reyes  Catolicos,  cap.  80.  encomium  of  the  old  Moorish  bai- 
—  Caro  de  Torres,  Ordenes  Mill-  lad, 

tares,  fol.  82,  83.  «  Caballeros  Granadlnos, 

22  Pulgar,  Reyes  Catolicos,  cap.  Aunque  Moros,  hijosdaigo." 

91  -  Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catolicos,    H       Guerras  de  Granada,  torn. 
MS.,  cap.  84.  p/25^ 


32  WAR  OF  GRANADA. 

part        But  no  virtue  nor  valor  could  avail  the  unfortu- 

 _  .  nate  Malagans  against  the  overwhelming  force  of 

«SiJSrk"  their  enemies,  who,  driving  them  back  from  every 
point,  compelled  them,  after  a  desperate  struggle  of 
six  hours,  to  shelter  themselves  within  the  defences 
of  the  town.  The  Christians  followed  up  their 
success.  A  mine  was  sprung  near  a  tower,  connect- 
ed by  a  bridge  of  four  arches  with  the  main  works 
of  the  place.  The  Moors,  scattered  and  intimidat- 
ed by  the  explosion,  retreated  across  the  bridge, 
and  the  Spaniards,  carrying  the  tower,  whose  guns 
completely  enfiladed  it,  obtained  possession  of  this 
important  pass  into  the  beleaguered  city.  For  these 
and  other  signal  services  during  the  siege,  Francisco 
Ramirez,  the  master  of  the  ordnance,  received  the 
honors  of  knighthood  from  the  hand  of  King  Ferdi- 
nand. 23 

Simme08  ci^zens  °f  Malaga,  dismayed  at  beholding 

There  is  no  older  well-authen-  velli,  Istorie  Fiorentine,  lib.  8.  — 
ticated  account  of  the  employment  Guicciardini,  Istoria  d'  Italia,  (Mi- 
of  gunpowder  in  mining  in  Euro-  lano,  1803,)  torn.  iii.  lib.  6.)  This 
pean  warfare,  so  far  as  I  am  aware,  singular  coincidence,  in  nations 
than  this  by  Ramirez.  Tirabos-  having  then  but  little  intercourse, 
chi,  indeed,  refers,  on  the  authority  would  seem  to  infer  some  common 
of  another  writer,  to  a  work  in  the  origin  of  greater  antiquity.  How- 
library  of  the  Academy  of  Siena,  ever  this  may  be,  the  writers  of 
composed  by  one  Francesco  Gior-  both  nations  are  agreed  in  ascrib- 
gio,  architect  of  the  duke  of  Urbi-  ing  the  first  successful  use  of  such 
no,  about  1480,  in  which  that  per-  mines  on  any  extended  scale  to  the 
son  claims  the  merit  of  the  inven-  celebrated  Spanish  engineer,  Pedro 
tion.  (Letteratura  Italiana,  torn.  Navarro,  when  serving  under  Gon- 
vi.  p.  3'j0.)  The  whole  statement  salvo  of  Cordova,  in  his  Italian 
is  obviously  too  loose  to  warrant  campaigns  at  the  beginning  of  the 
any  such  conclusion.  The  Italian  sixteenth  century.  Guicciardini, 
historians  notice  the  use  of  gun-  ubi   supra. — Paolo   Giovio,  De 

f>owder  mines  at  the  siege  of  the  Vita.  Magni  Gonsalvi,  (Vita?  Illus- 

ittle  town  of  Serezanello  in  Tus-  trium  Virorum,  Basiliae,  1578,)  lib. 

cany,  by  the  Genoese,  in  1487,  2. —  Aleson,  Annales  de  Navarra, 

precisely    contemporaneous    with  torn.  v.  lib.  35,  cap.  12. 
the  siege  of  Malaga.  (Machia- 


CONQUEST  OF  MALAGA 


S3 


the  enemy  established  in  their  defences,  and  faint-  chapter 

•  •  ■  •  XIII 

ing  under  exhaustion  from  a  siege  which  had  al-   .  

ready  lasted  more  than  three  months,  now  began 
to  murmur  at  the  obstinaey  of  the  garrison,  and  to 
demand  a  capitulation.  Their  magazines  of  grain 
were  emptied,  and  for  some  weeks  they  had  been 
compelled  to  devour  the  flesh  of  horses,  dogs,  cats, 
and  even  the  boiled  hides  of  these  animals,  or,  in 
default  of  other  nutriment,  vine  leaves  dressed  with 
oil,  and  leaves  of  the  palm  tree,  pounded  fine,  and 
baked  into  a  sort  of  cake.  In  consequence  of  this 
loathsome  and  unwholesome  diet,  diseases  were 
engendered.  Multitudes  were  seen  dying  about 
the  streets.  Many  deserted  to  the  Spanish  camp, 
eager  to  barter  their  liberty  for  bread  ;  and  the  city 
exhibited  all  the  extremes  of  squalid  and  disgusting 
wretchedness,  bred  by  pestilence  and  famine  among 
an  overcrowded  population.  The  sufferings  of  the 
citizens  softened  the  stern  heart  of  the  alcayde, 
Hamet  Zeli,  who  at  length  yielded  to  their  impor- 
tunities, and,  withdrawing  his  forces  into  the  Gebal- 
faro,  consented  that  the  Malagans  should  make  "the 
best  terms  they  could  with  their  conqueror. 

A  deputation  of  the  principal  inhabitants,  with  proposal* 

A  11  for  surren 

an  eminent  merchant  named  Ali  Dordux  at  their  der 
head,  was  then  despatched  to  the  Christian  quar- 
ters, with  the  offer  of  the  city  to  capitulate,  on  the 
same  liberal  conditions  which  had  been  uniformly 
granted  by  the  Spaniards.  The  king  refused  to 
admit  the  embassy  into  his  presence,  and  haughtily 
answered  through  the  commander  of  Leon,  "  that 
these  terms  had  been  twice  offered  to  t)u>  people 

VOL.  II.  5 


34  WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


part     of  Malaga,  and  rejected  ;  that  it  was  too  late  for 
'       them  to  stipulate  conditions,  and  nothing  now  re- 
mained but  to  abide  by  those,  which  he,  as  their 
conqueror,  should  vouchsafe  to  them."24 
Haughty  de-      Ferdinand's  answer  spread  general  consterna- 

meanor  of  . 

Ferdinand.  tjon  throughout  Malaga.  The  inhabitants  saw  too 
plainly  that  nothing  was  to  be  hoped  from  an  ap- 
peal to  sentiments  of  humanity.  After  a  tumultu- 
ous debate,  the  deputies  were  despatched  a  second 
time  to  the  Christian  camp,  charged  with  proposi- 
tions in  which  concession  was  mingled  with  men- 
ace. They  represented  that  the  severe  response 
of  King  Ferdinand  to  the  citizens  had  rendered 
them  desperate.  That,  however,  they  were  willing 
to  resign  to  him  their  fortifications,  their  city,  in 
short  their  property  of  every  description,  on  his 
assurance  of  their  personal  security  and  freedom. 
If  he  refused  this,  they  would  take  their  Christian 
captives,  amounting  to  five  or  six  hundred,  from  the 
dungeons  in  which  they  lay,  and  hang  them  like 
dogs  over  the  battlements ;  and  then,  placing  their 
old  men,  women,  and  children  in  the  fortress,  they 
would  set  fire  to  the  town,  and  cut  a  way  for  them- 
selves through  their  enemies,  or  fall  in  the  attempt. 
"  So,"  they  continued,  "  if  you  gain  a  victory,  it 
shall  be  such  a  one  as  shall  make  the  name  of  Mal- 
aga ring  throughout  the  world,  and  to  ages  yet 
unborn  !  n   Ferdinand,  unmoved  by  these  menaces. 


24  Cardonne,  Hist.  d'Afrique  et  Ordenes,  fol.  54. —  Pulgar,  Reyes 

d'Espagne,  torn.  iii.  p.  296.  —  L.  Catolicos,  cap.  92. —  Bernaldez, 

Marineo,  Cosas  Memorables,  fol.  Reyes  Catolicos,  MS.,  cap.  85 
175.  —  Rades  y  A  ndrada,  Las  Tres 


CONQUEST  OF  MALAGA. 


35 


coolly  replied,  that  he  saw  no  occasion  to  change  chapter 
his  fonner  determination  ;    but  they  might  rest  XIIL 
assured,  if  they  harmed  a  single  hair  of  a  Christian, 
he  would  put  every  soul  in  the  place,  man,  woman, 
and  child,  to  the  sword. 

The  anxious  people,  who  thronged  forth  to  meet 
the  embassy  on  its  return  to  the  city,  were  over- 
whelmed with  the  deepest  gloom  at  its  ominous 
tidings.  Their  fate  was  now  sealed.  Every  ave- 
nue to  hope  seemed  closed  by  the  stern  response 
of  the  victor.  Yet  hope  will  still  linger ;  and,  al- 
though there  were  some  frantic  enough  to  urge  the 
execution  of  their  desperate  menaces,  the  greater 
number  of  the  inhabitants,  and  among  them  those 
most  considerable  for  wealth  and  influence,  prefer- 
red the  chance  of  Ferdinand's  clemency  to  certain, 
irretrievable  ruin. 

For  the  last  time,  therefore,  the  deputies  issued  Malaga  6Ur- 

1  renders  at 

from  the  gates  of  the  city,  charged  with  an  epistle  discreti0Q- 
to  the  sovereigns  from  their  unfortunate  country- 
men, in  which,  after  deprecating  their  anger,  and 
lamenting  their  own  blind  obstinacy,  they  reminded 
their  highnesses  of  the  liberal  terms  which  their 
ancestors  had  granted  to  Cordova,  Antequera,  and 
other  cities,  after  a  defence  as  pertinacious  as  their 
own.  They  expatiated  on  the  fame  which  the 
sovereigns  had  established  by  the  generous  policy 
of  their  past  conquests,  and,  appealing  to  their 
magnanimity,  concluded  with  submitting  them- 
selves, their  families,  and  their  fortunes  to  their 
disposal.  Twenty  of  the  principal  citizens  were 
then  delivered  up  as  hostages  for  the  peaceable 


36 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


part     demeanor  of  the  city  until  its  occupation  by  the 

  Spaniards.    "  Thus,"  says  the  Curate  of  Los  Pala- 

cios,  "  did  the  Almighty  harden  the  hearts  of  these 
heathen,  like  to  those  of  the  Egyptians,  in  order 
that  they  might  receive  the  full  wages  of  the  mani- 
fold oppressions  which  they  had  wrought  on  his 
people,  from  the  days  of  King  Roderic  to  the  pres- 
ent time !  " 25 

On  the  appointed  day,  the.  commander  of  Leon 
rode  through  the  gates  of  Malaga,  at  the  head  of 
his  well-appointed  chivalry,  and  took  possession  of 
the  alcazaba,  or  lower  citadel.  The  troops  were 
then  posted  on  their  respective  stations  along  the 
fortifications,  and  the  banners  of  Christian  Spain 
triumphantly  unfurled  from  the  towers  of  the  city, 
where  the  crescent  had  been  displayed  for  an  unin- 
terrupted period  of  nearly  eight  centuries, 
iwuation       The  first  act  was  to  purify  the  town  from  the 

ut  the  city.  i  J 

numerous  dead  bodies,  and  other  offensive  matter, 
which  had  accumulated  during  this  long  siege,  and 
lay  festering  in  the  streets,  poisoning  the  atmo- 
sphere. The  principal  mosque  w  as  next  consecrat- 
ed with  due  solemnity  to  the  service  of  Santa 
Maria  de  la  Encarnacion.    Crosses  and  bells,  the 


55  Pulgar,  Reyes  Catolicos,  cap.  ed  at  length  by  Pulgar,  would  seem 

03.  —  Cardonne,  Hist.  d'Afrique  to  be  a  refutation  of  this.  And 

el  d'Espagne,  torn.  iii.  p.  296.  yet  there  are  good  grounds  for 

The  Arabic  historians  state,  that  suspecting  false  play  on  the  part 

Malaga  was  betrayed  by  Ali  Dor-  of  the  ambassador  Dordux,  since 

dux,  who  admitted  the  Spaniards  the  Castilian  writers  admit,  that  he 

into  the  castle,  while  the  citi-  was  exempted,  with  forty  of  his 

tens  were  debating  on  Ferdinand's  friends,  from  the  doom  of  slavery 

terms.     (See  Conde,  Domination  and  forfeiture  of  property,  passed 

de  los  Arabes,  torn.  iii.  cap.  39.)  upon  his  fellow-citizens. 
The  letter  of  the  inhabitants,  quot- 


CONQUKST  OF  MALAGA. 


37 


symbols  of  Christian  worship,  were  distributed  in  chapter 

profusion  among  the  sacred  edifices;  where,  says  ,  

the  Catholic  chronicler  last  quoted,  "  the  celestial 
music  of  their  chimes,  sounding  at  every  hour  of 
the  day  and  night,  caused  perpetual  torment  to  the 
ears  of  the  infidel."  26 

On  the  eighteenth  day  of  August,  being  some-  Entrance  0t 

o  J  o        »  o  the  sover- 

what  more  than  three  months  from  the  date  of  eigns- 
opening  trenches,  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  made 
their  entrance  into  the  conquered  city,  attended  by 
the  court,  the  clergy,  and  the  whole  of  their  mili- 
tary array.  The  procession  moved  in  solemn  state 
up  the  principal  streets,  now  deserted,  and  hushed 
in  ominous  silence,  to  the  new  cathedral  of  St. 
Mary,  where  mass  was  performed  ;  and,  as  the  glo- 
rious anthem  of  the  Te  Deum  rose  for  the  first  time 
within  its  ancient  walls,  the  sovereigns,  together 
with  the  whole  army,  prostrated  themselves  in  grate- 
ful adoration  of  the  Lord  of  hosts,  who  had  thus 
reinstated  them  in  the  domains  of  their  ancestors. 

The  most  affecting  incident  was  afforded  by  the  Release  of 

°  J  Christian 

multitude  of  Christian  captives,  who  were  rescued  caPtive8- 
from  the  Moorish  dungeons.  They  were  brought 
before  the  sovereigns,  with  their  limbs  heavily 
manacled,  their  beards  descending  to  their  waists, 
and  their  sallow  visages  emaciated  by  captivity  and 
famine.  Every  eye  was  suffused  with  tears  at  the 
spectacle.  Many  recognised  their  ancient  friends, 
of  whose  fate  they  had  long  been  ignorant.  Some 
had  lingered  in  captivity  ten  or  fifteen  years  ;  and 


26  Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catolicos,  MS.,  cap.  85. 


38 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


part     among  them  were  several  belonging  to  the  best 

 —  families  in  Spain.    On  entering  the  presence,  they 

would  have  testified  their  gratitude  by  throwing 
themselves  at  the  feet  of  the  sovereigns  ;  but  the 
latter,  raising  them  up  and  mingling  their  tears 
with  those  of  the  liberated  captives,  caused  their 
fetters  to  be  removed,  and,  after  administering  to 
their  necessities,  dismissed  them  with  liberal  pres- 
ents. 27 

The  fortress  of  Gebalfaro  surrendered  on  the  day 
after  the  occupation  of  Malaga  by  the  Spaniards. 
The  gallant  Zegri  chieftain,  Hamet  Zeli  was  load- 
ed with  chains  ;  and,  being  asked  why  he  had  per- 
sisted so  obstinately  in  his  rebellion,  boldly  answer- 
ed, "  Because  I  was  commissioned  to  defend  the 
place  to  the  last  extremity  ;  and,  if  I  had  been 
properly  supported,  I  would  have  died  sooner  than 
surrender  now !  n 
fheMaia-f  ^ne  doom  °f  tae  vanquished  was  now  to  be 
fans.  pronounced.  On  entering  the  city,  orders  had 
been  issued  to  the  Spanish  soldiery,  prohibiting 
them  under  the  severest  penalties  from  molesting 
either  the  persons  or  property  of  the  inhabitants. 
These  latter  were  directed  to  remain  in  their  re- 
spective mansions  with  a  guard  set  over  them,  while 
the  cravings  of  appetite  were  supplied  by  a  liberal 
distribution  of  food.  At  length,  the  whole  popu- 
lation of  the  city,  comprehending  every  age  and 

27  Carbajal,  whose  meagre  an-  September.    Anales,  afio  1487. — 

nals  have  scarcely  any  merit  be-  Marmol,   Rebelion   de  Moriscos, 

yond  that  of  a  mere  chronological  lib.  1,  cap.  14. 
table,  postpones  the  surrender  till 


CONQUEST  OF  MALAGA. 


39 


sex,  was  commanded  to  repair  to  the  great  court-  chapter 

•  XIII 

yard  of  the  alcazaba,  which  was  overlooked  on  all  L 

sides  by  lofty  ramparts  garrisoned  by  the  Spanish 
soldiery.  To  this  place,  the  scene  of  many  a 
Moorish  triumph,  where  the  spoil  of  the  border 
foray  had  been  often  displayed,  and  which  still 
might  be  emblazoned  with  the  trophy  of  many  a 
Christian  banner,  the  people  of  Malaga  now  direct- 
ed their  steps.  As  the  multitude  swarmed  through 
the  streets,  filled  with  boding  apprehensions  of  their 
fate,  they  wrung  their  hands,  and,  raising  their  eyes 
to  Heaven,  uttered  the  most  piteous  lamentations. 
"  Oh  Malaga,"  they  cried,  "  renowned  and  beau- 
tiful city,  how  are  thy  sons  about  to  forsake  thee  ! 
Could  not  thy  soil  on  which  they  first  drew  breath, 
be  suffered  to  cover  them  in  death  ?  Where  is  now 
the  strength  of  thy  towers,  where  the  beauty  of 
thy  edifices  ?  The  strength  of  thy  walls,  alas, 
could  not  avail  thy  children,  for  they  had  sorely 
displeased  their  Creator.  What  shall  become  of  thy 
old  men  and  thy  matrons,  or  of  thy  young  maidens 
delicately  nurtured  within  thy  halls,  when  they 
shall  feel  the  iron  yoke  of  bondage  ?  Can  thy 
barbarous  conquerors  without  remorse  thus  tear 
asunder  the  dearest  ties  of  life  ?  "  Such  are  the 
melancholy  strains,  in  which  the  Castilian  chron- 
icler has  given  utterance  to  the  sorrows  of  the 
captive  city. 28 

23  Bleda,  Cor6nica,  lib.  5,  cap.  with  canes,  acanavereadosy  a  barba- 

15.  rous  punishment  derived  from  the 

As  a  counterpart  to  the  above  Moors,   which  was   inflicted  by 

•scene,  twelve  Christian  renegades,  horsemen  at  full  gallop,  who  dis- 

found  in  the  city,  were  transfixed  charged  pointed  reeds  at  the  crim- 


40 


WAR  OF  GRAM  ADA. 


PART 
L 

Sentence 

passed  on 
them. 


Wary  de- 
vice of  Fer- 
dinand. 


The  dreadful  doom  of  slavery  was  denounced  on 
the  assembled  multitude.  One  third  was  to  be 
transported  into  Africa  in  exchange  for  an  equal 
number  of  Christian  captives  detained  there  ;  and 
all,  who  had  relatives  or  friends  in  this  predicament, 
were  required  to  furnish  a  specification  of  them. 
Another  third  was  appropriated  to  reimburse  the 
state  for  the  expenses  of  the  war.  The  remainder 
were  to  be  distributed  as  presents  at  home  and 
abroad.  Thus,  one  hundred  of  the  flower  of  the 
African  warriors  were  sent  to  the  pope,  who  incor- 
porated them  into  his  guard,  and  converted  them 
all  in  the  course  of  the  year,  says  the  Curate  of  Los 
Palacios,  into  very  good  Christians.  Fifty  of  the 
most  beautiful  Moorish  girls  were  presented  by  Isa- 
bella to  the  queen  of  Naples,  thirty  to  the  queen  of 
Portugal,  others  to  the  ladies  of  her  court  ;  and  the 
residue  of  both  sexes  were  apportioned  among  the 
nobles,  cavaliers,  and  inferior  members  of  the  army, 
according  to  their  respective  rank  and  services.29 

As  it  was  apprehended  that  the  Malagans,  ren- 
dered desperate  by  the  prospect  of  a  hopeless,  in- 
terminable captivity,  might  destroy  or  secrete  their 
jewels,  plate,  and  other  precious  effects,  in  which 
this  wealthy  city  abounded,  rather  than  suffer  them 
to  fall  into  the  hands  of  their  enemies,  Ferdinand 
devised  a  politic  expedient  for  preventing  it.  He 


innl,  until  he  expired  under  re-  of    our    sovereigns"!  Abaroa, 

peated  wounds.     A   number  of  Reyes  de  Aragon,  torn.    ii.  rev 

relapsed  Jews  were  at  the  same  30,  cap.  3. 

time  condemned  to  the   flames.  ^  Pulgar,  Reyes  Catolicos,  ubi 

" These,"   says   father   Abarca,  supra.  —  Bernaldez,  Reyes  Cato- 

"  were  the  fites  and  illuminations  licos,    MS.,    ubi   supra. Peter 

most  grateful  to  the  Catholic  piety  Martyr,  Opus  Epist.,  epist.  02. 


CONQUEST  OF  MALAGA. 


41 


proclaimed,  that  he  would  receive  a  certain  sum,  if  chapter 
paid  within  nine  months,  as  the  ransom  of  the  M 
whole  population,  and  that  their  personal  effects 
should  be  admitted  in  part  payment.  This  sum 
averaged  about  thirty  doblas  a  head,  including  in 
the  estimate  all  those  who  might  die  before  the  de- 
termination of  the  period  assigned.  The  ransom, 
thus  stipulated,  proved  more  than  the  unhappy  peo- 
ple could  raise,  either  by  themselves,  or  agents  em- 
ployed to  solicit  contributions  among  their  brethren 
of  Granada  and  Africa  ;  at  the  same  time,  it  so  far 
deluded  their  hopes,  that  they  gave  in  a  full  inven- 
tory of  their  effects  to  the  treasury.  By  this  shrewd 
device,  Ferdinand  obtained  complete  possession 
both  of  the  persons  and  property  of  his  victims.30 

Malaga  was  computed  to  contain  from  eleven  c«»ei  policy 

°  1  of  the  vic- 

tO  fifteen  thousand  inhabitants,  exclusive  of  sev-  tors* 

eral  thousand  foreign  auxiliaries,  within  its  gates 
at  the  time  of  surrender.  One  cannot,  at  this 
day,  read  the  melancholy  details  of  its  story,  with- 
out feelings  of  horror  and  indignation.  It  is  im- 
possible to  vindicate  the  dreadful  sentence  pass- 
ed on  this  unfortunate  people  for  a  display  of  he- 
roism, which  should  have  excited  admiration  in 
every  generous  bosom.  It  was  obviously  most  re- 
pugnant to  Isabella's  natural  disposition,  and  must 

30  Bernaldez,   Reyes  Catolicos,       Not  a  word  of  comment  escapes 

MS.,  cap.  87.  —  L.  Marineo,  Co-  the  Castilian  historians  on  this 

sas  Memorables,  fol.  176.  —  Con-  merciless  rigor  of  the  conqueror 

de,  Dominacion   de  los  Arabes,  towards  the  vanquished.    It  is  ev- 

tom.  iii.  p.  238.  —  Cardonne,  Hist,  ident  that  Ferdinand  did  no  vi<>- 

d'Afrique  et  d'Espagne,  torn.  iii.  lence  to  the  feelings  of  his  ortho- 

p.  296. — Carbajal,  Anales,  MS.,  dox  subjects.    Tacendo  clamant. 
aiio  1487. 


VOL.  II. 


6 


42 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


tart     be  admitted  to  leave  a  stain  on  her  memory,  which 

-  — -  no  coloring  of  history  can  conceal.     It  may  find 

some  palliation,  however,  in  the  bigotry  of  the  age, 
the  more  excusable  in  a  woman,  whom  education, 
general  example,  and  natural  distrust  of  herself, 
accustomed  to  rely,  in  matters  of  conscience,  on 
the  spiritual  guides,  whose  piety  and  professional 
learning  seemed  to  qualify  them  for  the  trust.  Even 
in  this  very  transaction,  she  fell  far  short  of  the 
suggestions  of  some  of  her  counsellors,  who  urged 
her  to  put  every  inhabitant  without  exception  to 
the  sword  ;  which,  they  affirmed,  would  be  a  just 
requital  of  their  obstinate  rebellion,  and  would 
prove  a  wholesome  warning  to  others !  We  are  not 
told  who  the  advisers  of  this  precious  measure 
were  ;  but  the  whole  experience  of  this  reign 
shows,  that  we  shall  scarcely  wrong  the  clergy 
much  by  imputing  it  to  them.  That  their  argu- 
ments could  warp  so  enlightened  a  mind,  as  that 
of  Isabella,  from  the  natural  principles  of  justice 
and  humanity,  furnishes  a  remarkable  proof  of  the 
ascendency  which  the  priesthood  usurped  over  the 
most  gifted  intellects,  and  of  their  gross  abuse  of 
it,  before  the  Reformation,  by  breaking  the  seals 
set  on  the  sacred  volume,  opened  to  mankind  the 
uncorrupted  channel  of  divine  truth. 31 

The  fate  of  Malaga  may  be  said  to  have  decided 
that  of  Granada.    The  latter  was  now  shut  out 

31  Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catolicos,  a  wealthy  Israelite  of  Castile  for 

MS.,  cap.  87.  —  Bleda,  Cor6nica,  27,000  doblas  of  gold.    A  proof 

lib.  5,  cap.  15.  that   the  Jewish  stock  was  one 

About  four  hundred  and  fifty  which  thrived  amidst  persecution. 
Moon-sh  Jews  were  ransomed  by       Jt  is  scarcely  possible  that  the 


CONQUEST  OF  MALAGA  43 

from  the  most  important  ports  along  her  coast ;  and  oiiajtbk 

she  was  environed  on  every  point  of  her  territory   ^  

by  her  warlike  foe,  so  that  she  could  hardly  hope 
more  from  subsequent  efforts,  however  strenuous 
and  united,  than  to  postpone  the  inevitable  hour  of 
•  dissolution.  The  cruel  treatment  of  Malaga  was 
the  prelude  to  the  long  series  of  persecutions,  which  • 
awaited  the  wretched  Moslems  in  the  land  of  their 
ancestors  ;  in  that  land,  over  which  the  "  star  of 
Islamism,"  to  borrow  their  own  metaphor,  had 
shone  in  full  brightness  for  nearly  eight  centuries, 
but  where  it  was  now  fast  descending  amid  clouds 
and  tempests  to  the  horizon. 

The  first  care  of  the  sovereigns  was  directed  to-  Measures  ?  , 

repeopling 

wards  repeopling  the  depopulated  city  with  their  Malaaa 
own  subjects.  Houses  and  lands  were  freely  grant- 
ed to  such  as  would  settle  there.  Numerous  towns 
and  villages  with  a  wide  circuit  of  territory  were 
placed  under  its  civil  jurisdiction,  and  it  was  made 
the  head  of  a  diocese  embracing  most  of  the  recent 
conquests  in  the  south  and  west  of  Granada.  These 
inducements,  combined  with  the  natural  advantages 
of  position  and  climate,  soon  caused  the  tide  of 
Christian  population  to  flow  into  the  deserted  city ; 
but  it  was  very  long  before  it  again  reached  the 
degree  of  commercial  consequence  to  which  it  had 
been  raised  by  the  Moors. 32 

circumstantial  Pulgar  should  have  pancies  of  contemporary  histori- 
omitted  to  notice  so  important  a  ans  even,  will  have  Lord  Orford's 
fact  as  the  scheme  of  the  Moorish  exclamation  to  his  son  Horace 
ransom,  had  it  occurred.  It  is  still  brought  to  his  mind  ten  times  a 
more  improbable,  that  the  honest  day;  '-Oh!  readme  not  historv, 
Curate  of  Los  Palacios  should  for  that  I  know  to  be  false." 
have  fabricated  it.  Any  one  who  3"2  Pulgar,  Reyes  Catolicos,  cap. 
attempts  to  reconcile  the  discre-    94.  —  Col.  de  Ced.  torn.  vi.  no.  321. 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 

After  these  salutary  arrangements,  the  Spanish 
sovereigns  led  back  their  victorious  legions  in 
triumph  to  Cordova,  'whence  dispersing  to  their 
various  homes,  they  prepared,  by  a  winter's  repose, 
for  new  campaigns  and  more  brilliant  conquests. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 


WAR  OF  GRANADA.  — CONQUEST  OF  BAZA.  -  SUBMISSION  OF  EL 

ZAGAL. 

1487  —  1489. 

The  Sovereigns  visit  Aragon.  —  The  King  lays  Siege  to  Baza.  —  Its 
great  Strength. — Gardens  cleared  of  their  Timber.  —  The  Queen 
raises  the  Spirits  of  her  Troops.  —  Her  patriotic  Sacrifices.  —  Sus- 
pension of  Arms.  —  Baza  surrenders.  —  Treaty  witli  Zagal.  —  Diffi- 
culties of  the  Campaign.  —  Isabella's  Popularity  and  Influence. 

In  the  autumn  of  1487,  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  chapter 

accompanied  by  the  younger  branches  of  the  royal  L, 

family,  visited  Aragon,  to  obtain  the  recognition  wipMvSita 
from  the  cortes,  of  Prince  John's  succession,  now 
in  his  tenth  year,  as  well  as  to  repress  the  disorders 
into  which  the  country  had  fallen  during  the  long 
absence  of  its  sovereigns.  To  this  end,  the  princi- 
pal cities  and  communities  of  Aragon  had  recently 
adopted  the  institution  of  the  hermandad,  organized 
on  similar  principles  to  that  of  Castile.  Ferdinand, 
on  his  arrival  at  Saragossa  in  the  month  of  Novem- 
ber, gave  his  royal  sanction  to  the  association,  ex- 
tending the  term  of  its  duration  to  five  years,  a 
measure  extremely  unpalatable  to  the  great  feudal 
nobility,  whose  power,  or  rather  abuse  of  power, 


4b' 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


part     was  considerably  abridged  by  this  popular  military 

- — .   force.1 

The  sovereigns,  after  accomplishing  the  objects 
of  their  visit,  and  obtaining  an  appropriation  from 
the  cortes  for  the  Moorish  war,  passed  into  Valen- 
cia, where  measures  of  like  efficiency  were  adopted 
for  restoring  the  authority  of  the  law,  which  was 
exposed  to  such  perpetual  lapses  in  this  turbulent 
age,  even  in  the  best  constituted  governments,  as 
required  for  its  protection  the  utmost  vigilance,  on 
the  part  of  those  intrusted  with  the  supreme  execu- 
tive power.  From  Valencia  the  court  proceeded  to 
Murcia,  where  Ferdinand,  in  the  month  of  June, 
1488,  assumed  the  command  of  an  army  amounting 
to  less  than  twrenty  thousand  men,  a  small  force 
compared  with  those  usually  levied  on  these  occa- 
sions ;  it  being  thought  advisable  to  suffer  the 
nation  to  breathe  a  while,  after  the  exhausting 
efforts  in  which  it  had  been  unintermittingly  en- 
gaged for  so  many  years. 

inroads  into      Ferdinand,  crossing;  the  eastern  borders  of  Gra- 

(rranada.  © 

nada,  at  no  great  distance  from  Vera,  which  speedi- 
ly opened  its  gates,  kept  along  the  southern  slant 
of  the  coast  as  far  as  Almeria  ;  whence,  after  expe- 
riencing some  rough  treatment  from  a  sortie  of  the 
garrison,  he  marched  by  a  northerly  circuit  on 
Baza,  for  the  purpose  of  reconnoitring  its  position, 
as  his  numbers  were  altogether  inadequate  to  its 
siege.    A  division  of  the  army  under  the  marquis 

1  Zurita,  Anales,  torn.  iv.  fol.    12.  —  Pulgar,   Reyes  Catolicos. 
351,  352,  356.  — Mariana,  Hist.    part.  3,  cap.  95. 
de  Espafia,  torn.  ii.  lib.  25,  cap. 


SIEGE  OF  BAZA. 


47 


duke  of  Cadiz  suffered  itself  to  be  drawn  here  into  chapter 

XIV. 

an  ambuscade  by  the  wily  old  monarch  El  Zagal,  ' — 

who  lay  in  Baza  with  a  strong  force.  After  extri- 
cating his  troops  with  some  difficulty  and  loss  from 
this  perilous  predicament,  Ferdinand  retreated  on 
his  own  dominions  by  the  way  of  Huescar,  where 
he  disbanded  his  army,  and  withdrew  to  offer  up 
his  devotions  at  the  cross  of  Caravaca.  The  cam- 
paign, though  signalized  by  no  brilliant  achieve- 
ment, and  indeed  clouded  with  some  slight  reverses, 
secured  the  surrender  of  a  considerable  number  of 
fortresses  and  towns  of  inferior  note.2 

The  Moorish  chief,  El  Zagal,  elated  by  his  re-  Burder  **r 
cent  success,  made  frequent  forays  into  the  Chris- 
tian territories,  sweeping  off  the  flocks,  herds,  and 
growing  crops  of  the  husbandman ;  while  the  gar- 
risons of  Almeria  and  Salobrena,  and  the  bold  in- 
habitants of  the  valley  of  Puichena,  poured  a  similar 
devastating  warfare  over  the  eastern  borders  of 
Granada  into  Murcia.  To  meet  this  pressure,  the 
Spanish  sovereigns  reinforced  the  frontier  with 
additional  levies  under  Juan  de  Benavides  and 
Garcilasso  de  la  Vega ;  while  Christian  knights, 
whose  prowess  is  attested  in  many  a  Moorish  lay, 
flocked  there  from  all  quarters,  as  to  the  theatre 
oftwar. 

During  the  following  winter,  of  1488,  Ferdinand 
and  Isabella  occupied  themselves  with  the  interior 
government  of  Castile,  and  particularly  the  admin- 

2  Ferreras,  Hist.   d'Espagne,  donne,  Hist.  d'Afrique  et  d'Es- 

tom.  viii.  p.  76.  —  Pulgar,  Reyes  pagne,  torn.  iii.  pp.  298,  299.— 

Oatolicos,  cap.  98.  —  Zufiiga,  An-  Carbajal,  Anales,  MS.,  afio  1488. 
nales  de  Sevilla,  p.  402.  —  Car- 


48 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


liiil;  ui. 


pabt     istration  of  justice.     A  commission  was  specially 

■  appointed  to  supervise  the  conduct  of  the  corregi- 

dors  and  subordinate  magistrates,  "  so  that  every 
one,"  says  Pulgar,  "  was  most  careful  to  discharge 
his  duty  faithfully,  in  order  to  escape  the  penalty, 
which  was  otherwise  sure  to  overtake  him."3 
Bmbusy        While  at  Valladolid,  the  sovereigns  received  an 

from  ZVlaxi-  ° 

embassy  from  Maximilian,  son  of  the  emperor 
Frederic  the  Fourth,  of  Germany,  soliciting  their 
cooperation  in  his  designs  against  France  for  the 
restitution  of  his  late  wife's  rightful  inheritance, 
the  duchy  of  Burgundy,  and  engaging  in  turn  to 
support  them  in  their  claims  on  Roussillon  and 
Cerdagne.  The  Spanish  monarchs  had  long  enter- 
tained many  causes  of  discontent  with  the  French 
court,  both  with  regard  to  the  mortgaged  territory 
of  Roussillon,  and  the  kingdom  of  Navarre  ;  and 
they  watched  with  jealous  eye  the  daily  increasing 
authority  of  their  formidable  neighbour  on  their 
own  frontier.  They  had  been  induced  in  the  pre- 
ceding summer,  to  equip  an  armament  at  Biscay 


3  Conde,  Dominacion  de  los  Ara-  affair.    The  latter,  after  a  brief 

bes,  torn.  iii.  pp.  239,  240.  —  Pul-  investigation,  commanded  the  al- 

gar,  Reyes  Catolicos,  cap.  100,  cayde  to  be  hung-  up  over  his  for- 

101.— During  the  preceding  year,  tress,  and  the  alcalde  to  be  delivcr- 

while  the  court  was  at  Murcia,  ed  over  to  the  court  of  chancery  at 

we  find  one  of  the  examples  of  Valladolid,  who  ordered  his  right 

prompt  and  severe  exercise  of  jus-  hand  to  be  amputated,  and  banish- 

tice,  which  sometimes  occur  in  this  ed  him  the  realm.    This  summary 

reign.    One  of  the  royal  collectors  justice  was  perhaps  necessary  in  a 

having  been  resisted  and  personally  community,  that  might  be  said  to 

maltreated  by  the  alcayde  of  Sal-  be  in  transition  from  a  state  of  bar- 

vatierra,  a  place  belonging  to  the  barism  to  that  of  civilization,  and 

crown,  and  by  the  alcalde  of  a  ter-  had  a  salutary  effect  in  proving  to 

ritorial  court  of  the  duke  of  Alva,  the  people,  that  no  rank  was  ele- 

the  queen  caused  one  of  the  royal  vated  enough  to  raise  the  offender 

judges  privately  to  enter  into  t*he  above  the  law.    Pulgar,  cap.  99. 
place,  and  take  cognizance  of  the 


SIEGE  OF  BAZA. 


49 


and  Guipuscoa,  to  support  the  duke  of  Brittany  in  chapter 
his  wars  with  the  French  regent,  the  celebrated  — X1V'  — 
Anne  de  Beaujeu.  This  expedition,  which  proved 
disastrous,  was  followed  by  another  in  the  spring 
of  the  succeeding  year.4  But,  notwithstanding 
these  occasional  episodes  to  the  great  work  in 
which  they  were  engaged,  they  had  little  leisure 
for  extended  operations;  and,  although  they  entered 
into  the  proposed  treaty  of  alliance  with  Maximil- 
ian, they  do  not  seem  to  have  contemplated  any 
movement  of  importance  before  the  termination  of 
the  Moorish  war.  The  Flemish  ambassadors,  after 
being  entertained  for  forty  days  in  a  style  suited  to 
impress  them  with  high  ideas  of  the  magnificence 
of  the  Spanish  court,  and  of  its  friendly  disposition 
towards  their  master,  were  dismissed  with  costly 
presents,  and  returned  to  their  own  country. 5 

These  negotiations  show  the  increasing:  intimacv 
growing  up  between  the  European  states,  who,  as 
they  settled  their  domestic  feuds,  had  leisure  to 
turn  their  eyes  abroad,  and  enter  into  the  more  ex- 
tended field  of  international  politics.  The  tenor 
of  this  treaty  indicates  also  the  direction,  which 
affairs  were  to  take,  when  the  great  powers  should 

4  Ialigny,  Hist,  de  Charles  VIII.,  ers,  the  English  noble,  who  made 

pp.  92,  94.  —  Sismondi,  Hist,  des  such  a  gallant  figure  at  the  siege 

Francais,  torn.  xv.  p.  77.  —  Ale-  of  Loja,  lost  his  life.   In  the  spring 

son,  Annales  de  Navarra,  torn.  v.  of  1489,  the  levies  sent  into  France 

&G1.  —  Histoire  du  Royaume  de  amounted  to  two  thousand  in  num- 
avarre,  pp.  578,579.  —  Pulgar,  ber.    These  efforts  abroad,  simul- 
Reyes  Catolicos,  cap.  102.  taneous  whh  the  great  operations 
In  the  first  of  these  expeditions,  of  the  Moorish  war,  show  the  re- 
more  than  a  thousand  Spaniards  sources  as  well  as  energy  of  the 
were  slain  or  taken  at  the  disas-  sovereigns. 

trous  battle  of  St.  Aubin,  in  1488,       5  Pulgar,  Reyes  Catolicos,  ubi 

being  the  same  Id  which  lord  Riv-  supra. 

VOL.  II.  7 


50 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


part  be  brought  into  collision  with  each  other  on  a  com- 
 - —  mon  theatre  of  action. 

fo/Ciege  All  thoughts  were  now  concentrated  on  the  pros- 
ecution of  the  war  with  Granada,  which,  it  was 
determined,  should  be  conducted  on  a  more  enlarg- 
ed scale  than  it  had  jet  been ;  notwithstanding  the 
fearful  pest  which  had  desolated  the  country  during 
the  past  year,  and  the  extreme  scarcity  of  grain, 
owing  to  the  inundations  caused  by  excessive  rains 
in  the  fruitful  provinces  of  the  south.  The  great 
object  proposed  in  this  campaign  was  the  reduction 
of  Baza,  the  capital  of  that  division  of  the  empire, 
which  belonged  to  El  Zagal.  Besides  this  impor- 
tant city,  that  monarch's  dominions  embraced  the 
wealthy  sea-port  of  Almeria,  Guadix,  and  numerous 
other  towns  and  villages  of  less  consequence,  to- 
gether with  the  mountain  region  of  the  Alpuxarras, 
rich  in  mineral  wealth ;  w  hose  inhabitants,  famous 
for  the  perfection  to  which  they  had  carried  the 
silk  manufacture,  were  equally  known  for  their 
enterprise  and  courage  in  war,  so  that  El  ZagaPs 
division  comprehended  the  most  potent  and  opulent 
portion  of  the  empire. 6 
1489.  In  the  spring  of  1489,  the  Castilian  court  pass- 
ed to  Jaen,  at  which  place  the  queen  was  to  estab- 

<>  Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catolicos,  four  fifths  of  the  whole  population 

MS.,  cap.  91.  —  Zurita,  Anales,  were  swept  away  by  the  pestil- 

tom.  iv.  fol.  354.  —  Bleda,  Coro-  ence  of  1488.    Zurita  finds  more 

nica,  fol.  607.  —  Abarca,  Reyes  difficulty  in  swallowing  this  mon- 

de  Aragon,  torn.  ii.  fol.  307.  strous  statement  than  father  Abar- 

Such  was  the  scarcity  of  grain  ca,  whose  appetite  for  the  marvel 

that  the  prices  in  1489,  quoted  by  lous  appears  to  have  been  fully 

Bernaldez,  are  double  those  of  the  equal  to  that  of  most  of  his  calling 

preceding  year.  —  Both  Abarca  in  Spain, 
and  Zurita  mention  the  report,  that 


SIEGE  OF  BAZA. 


3 


lish  her  residence,  as  presenting  the  most  favorable  chapter 

•  •  •        •  •  •  •  XIV 

point  of  communication  with  the  invading  army.  — . 

Ferdinand  advanced  as  far  as  Sotogordo,  where,  on 

the  27th  of  May,  he  put  himself  at  the  head  of  a  Thekm« 

i  takes  com- 

numerous  force,  amounting  to  about  fifteen  thou-  ™and  <* 

7  O  the  arm j 

sand  horse  and  eighty  thousand  foot,  including 
persons  of  every  description  ;  among  whom  was 
gathered,  as  usual,  that  chivalrous  array  of  nobility 
and  knighthood,  who,  with  stately  and  well-appoint- 
ed retinues,  were  accustomed  to  follow  the  royal 
standard  in  these  crusades. 7 


7  Peter  Martyr,  Opus  Epist.,  lib. 
2,  epist.  70.  —  Pulgar,  Reyes 
Catolicos,  cap.  104. 

It  may  not  be  amiss  to  speci- 
fy the  names  of  the  most  distin- 
guished cavaliers  who  usually  at- 
tended the  king  in  these  Moorish 
wars ;  the  heroic  ancestors  of 
many  a  noble  house  still  extant  in 
Spain. 

Alonso  de  Cardenas,  master  of 
Saint  Jago. 

Juan  de  Zufiiga,  master  of  Al- 
cantara. 

Juan  Garcia  de  Padilla,  master 
of  Calatrava. 

Rodrigo  Ponce  de  Leon,  mar- 
quis duke  of  Cadiz. 

Enrique  de  Guzman,  duke  of 
Medina  Sidonia. 

Pedro  Manrique,  duke  of  Na- 
jera. 

Juan  Pacheco,  duke  of  Esca- 
lona,  marquis  of  Villena. 

Juan  Pimentel,  count  of  Bena- 
vente. 

Fadrique  de  Toledo,  son  of  the 

duke  of  Alva. 
Diego  Fernandez  de  Cordova, 

count  of  Cabra. 
Gomez  Alvarez   de  Figueroa, 

count  of  Feria. 
Alvaro  Tellez  Giron,  count  of 

Urefia. 


Juan  de  Silva,  count  of  Cifuen- 
tes. 

Fadrique  Enriquez,  adelantado 
of  Andalusia. 

Alonso  Fernandez  de  Cordova, 
lord  of  Aguilar. 

Gonsalvo  de  Cordova,  brother 
of  the  last,  known  afterwards 
as  the  Great  Captain. 

Luis  Porto-Carrero,  lord  of  Pal- 
ma. 

Gutierre  de  Cardenas,  first  com- 
mander of  Leon. 

Pedro  Fernandez  de  Velasco, 
count  of  Haro,  constable  of 
Castile. 

Beltran  de  la  Cueva,  duke  of 

Albuquerque. 
Diego  Fernandez  de  Cordova, 

alcayde  of  the  royal  pages, 

afterwards  marquis  of  Coma- 

ras. 

Alvaro  de  Zufiiga,  duke  ot 
Bejar. 

Ifiigo  Lopez  de  Mendoza,  count 
of  Tendilla,  afterwards  mar- 
quis of  Mondejar. 

Luis  de  Cerda,  duke  of  Medina 
Celi. 

Inigo  Lopez  de  Mendoza,  mar- 
quis of  Santillana,  second 
duke  of  Infantado. 

Garcilasso  de  la  Vega,  lord  of 
Batras. 


52  WAR  OF  GRANADA. 

fart        The  first  point,  against  which  operations  were 

 ■ —  directed,  was  the  strong  post  of  Cuxar,  two  leagues 

strength  of   only  from  Baza,  which  surrendered  after  a  brief  but 

Baza.  . 

desperate  resistance.  The  occupation  of  this  place, 
and  some  adjacent  fortresses;  left  the  approaches 
open  to  El  ZagaPs  capital.  As  the  Spanish  army 
toiled  up  the  heights  of  the  mountain  barrier,  which 
towers  above  Baza  on  the  west,  their  advance  was 
menaced  by  clouds  of  Moorish  light  troops,  who 
poured  down  a  tempest  of  musket-balls  and  arrows 
on  their  heads.  These  however  were  quickly  dis- 
persed by  the  advancing  vanguard  ;  and  the  Span- 
iards, as  they  gained  the  summits  of  the  hills,  be- 
held the  lordly  city  of  Baza,  reposing  in  the  shadows 
of  the  bold  sierra  that  stretches  towards  the  coast, 
and  lying  in  the  bosom  of  a  fruitful  valley,  extend- 
ing eight  leagues  in  length,  and  three  in  breadth. 
Through  this  valley  flowed  the  waters  of  the  Guad- 
alentin  and  the  Guadalquiton,  whose  streams  were 
conducted  by  a  thousand  canals  over  the  surface  of 
the  vega.  In, the  midst  of  the  plain,  adjoining  the 
suburbs,  might  be  descried  the  orchard  or  garden, 
as  it  was  termed,  of  Baza,  a  league  in  length,  cov- 
ered with  a  thick  growth  of  wood,  and  with  nu- 
merous villas  and  pleasure-houses  of  the  wealthy 
citizens,  now  converted  into  garrisoned  fortresses. 
The  suburbs  were  encompassed  by  a  low  mud  wall ; 
but  the  fortifications  of  the  city  were  of  uncommon 
strength.  The  place,  in  addition  to  ten  thousand 
troops  of  its  own,  was  garrisoned  by  an  equal  num- 
ber from  Almeria  ;  picked  men,  under  the  command 
of  the  Moorish  prince  Cidi  Yahye,  a  relative  of  El 


SIEGE  OF  BAZA. 


53 


Zagal,  who  lay  at  this  time  in  Guadix,  prepared  to  chaptei 
cover  his  own  dominions  against  any  hostile  move-  Xlv 
merit  of  his  rival  in  Granada.  These  veterans  were 
commissioned  to  defend  the  place  to  the  last  ex- 
tremity ;  and,  as  due  time  had  been  given  for  prep- 
aration, the  town  was  victualled  with  fifteen  months' 
provisions,  and  even  the  crops  growing  in  the  vega 
had  been  garnered  before  their  prime,  to  save  them 
from  the  hands  of  the  enemy.8 

The  first  operation,  after  the  Christian  army  had  Amuicog 
encamped  before  the  walls  of  Baza,  was  to  get 
possession  of*  the  garden,  without  which  it  would 
be  impossible  to  enforce  a  thorough  blockade,  since 
its  labyrinth  of  avenues  afforded  the  inhabitants 
abundant  facilities  of  communication  with  the  sur- 
rounding country.  The  assault  was  intrusted  to 
the  grand  master  of  St.  James,  supported  by  the 
principal  cavaliers,  and  the  king  in  person.  Their 
reception  by  the  enemy  was  such  as  gave  them  a 
foretaste  of  the  perils  and  desperate  daring  they 
were  to  encounter  in  the  present  siege.  The  brok- 
en surface  of  the  ground,  bewildered  with  intricate 
passes,  and  thickly  studded  with  trees  and  edifices, 
was  peculiarly  favorable  to  the  desultory  and  illuso- 
ry tactics  of  the  Moors.  The  Spanish  cavalry  was 
brought  at  once  to  a  stand  ;  the  ground  proving 
impracticable  for  it,  it  was  dismounted,  and  led  to 
the  charge  by  its  officers  on  foot.    The  men,  how- 

8  Zurita,  Anales,  torn.  iv.  fol.  70. — Estrada,  Poblacion  de  Ks- 

360. —  Condc,  Dominacion  de  los  nana,  torn.  ii.  fol.  239. —  Marmcl, 

Arabes,  torn.  iii.  p.  241.  —  Peter  Rebelion  de  Moriscos,  lib.  1,  cap. 

Martyr,  Opus  Epist.,  lib.  2,  epist. '  10. 


54 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


part     ever,  were  soon  scattered  far  asunder  from  their 

  banners  and  their  leaders.    Ferdinand,  who  from  a 

central  position  endeavoured  to  overlook  the  field, 
with  the  design  of  supporting  the  attack  on  the 
points  most  requiring  it,  soon  lost  sight  of  his  col- 
umns amid  the  precipitous  ravines,  and  the  dense 
masses  of  foliage  which  everywhere  intercepted  the 
view.  The  combat  was  carried  on,  hand  to  hand,  in 
the  utmost  confusion.  Still  the  Spaniards  pressed 
forward,  and,  after  a  desperate  struggle  for  twelve 
hours,  in  which  many  of  the  bravest  on  both  sides 
fell,  and  the  Moslem  chief  Reduan  'Zafarga  had 
four  horses  successively  killed  under  him,  the  enemy 
were  beaten  back  behind  the  intrenchments  that 
covered  the  suburbs,  and  the  Spaniards,  hastily 
constructing  a  defence  of  palisades,  pitched  their 
tents  on  the  field  of  battle. 9 

The  following  morning  Ferdinand  had  the  mor- 
tification to  observe,  that  the  ground  was  too  much 
broken,  and  obstructed  with  wood,  to  afford  a  suit- 
able place  for  a  general  encampment.  To  evacuate 
his  position,  however,  in  the  face  of  the  enemy^  was 
a  delicate  manoeuvre,  and  must  necessarily  expose 
him  to  severe  loss.  This  he  obviated,  in  a  great 
measure,  by  a  fortunate  stratagem.  He  command- 
ed the  tents  nearest  the  town  to  be  left  standing, 
and  thus  succeeded  in  drawing  off  the  greater  part 

9Pulgar,  Reyes  Catolicos,  cap.  from  his  entangled  narrative  of 
106,  107.  —  Conde,  Domination  some  of  the  preceding-  operations 
de  los  Arabes,  torn.  iii.  cap.  40.  —  in  this  war.  Both  he  and  Mar- 
Peter  Martyr,  Opus  Epist.,  epist.  tyr  were  present  daring  the  whole 
71.—  Pulgar  relates  hese  particu-  siege  of  Baza, 
lars  with  a  perspicuity  very  different 


SIEGE  OF  BAZA. 


55 


of  his  forces,  before  the  enemy  was  aware  of  his  chapter 

XIV. 

intention.  — 
After  regaining  his  former  position,  a  council  of  Desponden- 

°  °  1  7  cy  ol  the 

war  was  summoned  to  deliberate  on  the  course  next  ggg* 
to  be  pursued.  The  chiefs  were  filled  with  despon- 
dency, as  they  revolved  the  difficulties  of  their  sit- 
uation. They  almost  despaired  of  enforcing  the 
blockade  of  a  place,  whose  peculiar  situation  gave 
it  such  advantages.  Even  could  this  be  effected, 
the  camp  would  be  exposed,  they  argued,  to  the 
assaults  of  a  desperate  garrison  on  the  one  hand, 
and  of  the  populous  city  of  Guadix,  hardly  twenty 
miles  distant,  on  the  other ;  while  the  good  faith  of 
Granada  could  scarcely  be  expected  to  outlive  a 
single  reverse  of  fortune  ;  so  that,  instead  of  besieg- 
ing, they  might  be  more  properly  regarded  as  them- 
selves besieged.  In  addition  to  these  evils,  the 
winter  frequently  set  in  with  much  rigor  in  this  quar- 
ter ;  and  the  torrents,  descending  from  the  moun- 
tains, and  mingling  with  the  waters  of  the  valley, 
might  overwhelm  the  camp  with  an  inundation, 
which,  if  it  did  not  sweep  it  away  at  once,  would 
expose  it  to  the  perils  of  famine  by  cutting  off  all 
external  communication.  Under  these  gloomy  im- 
pressions, many  of  the  council  urged  Ferdinand  to 
break  up  his  position  at  once,  and  postpone  all  op- 
erations on  Baza,  until  the  reduction  of  the  sur- 
rounding country  should  make  it  comparatively  easy. 
Even  the  marquis  of  Cadiz  gave  in  to  this  opinion  ; 
and  Gutierre  de  Cardenas,  commander  of  Leon,  a 
cavalier  deservedly  high  in  the  confidence  of  the 
king,  was  almost  the  only  person  of  consideration 


56 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


part     decidedly  opposed  to  it.    In  this  perplexity,  Ferdi- 

 _  nand,  as  usual  in  similar  exigencies,  resolved  to 

take  counsel  of  the  queen.10 
Dispelled  by      Isabella  received  her  husband's  despatches  a  few 

Isabella.  1 

hours  after  they  were  written,  by  means  of  the 
regular  line  of  posts  maintained  between  the  camp 
and  her  station  at  Jaen.  She  was  filled  with  cha- 
grin at  their  import,  from  which  she  plainly  saw, 
that  all  her  mighty  preparations  were  about  to 
vanish  into  air.  Without  assuming  the  responsi- 
bility of  deciding  the  proposed  question,  however, 
she  besought  her  husband  not  to  distrust  the  provi- 
dence of  God,  which  had  conducted  them  through 
so  many  perils  towards  the  consummation  of  their 
wishes.  She  reminded  him,  that  the  Moorish  for- 
tunes were  never  at  so  low  an  ebb  as  at  present, 
and  that  their  own  operations  could  probably  never 
be  resumed  on  such  a  formidable  scale  or  under  so 
favorable  auspices  as  now,  when  their  arms  had 


!0  Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catolicos, 
MS.,  cap.  92. — Cardonne,  Hist. 
d'Afrique  et  d'Espagne,  torn.  iii. 
pp.  299,  300.  — Bleda,  Coronica, 
p.  611.  —  Garibay,  Compendio, 
torn.  ii.  p.  664. 

Don  Gutierre  de  Cardenas,  who 
possessed  so  high  a  place  in  the 
confidence  of  the  sovereigns,  oc- 
cupied a  station  in  the  queen's 
household,  as  we  have  seen,  at  the 
time  of  her  marriage  with  Ferdi- 
nand. His  discretion  and  general 
ability  enabled  him  to  retain  the 
influence  which  he  had  early  ac- 
quired, as  is  shown  by  a  popular 
distich  of  that  time. 
"  Cardenas,  y  el  Cardenal,  y  Chacon,  y 
Fray  Mortero, 
Traen  la  Corte  al  retortero." 

Fray  Mortero  was  Don  Alonso  de 


Burgos,  bishop  of  Palencia,  con- 
fessor of  the  sovereigns.  Don  Juan 
Chacon  was  the  son  of  Gonsalvo, 
who  had  the  care  of  Don  Alfonso 
and  the  queen  during  her  minority, 
when  he  was  induced  by  the  lib- 
eral largesses  of  John  II.,  of  Ara- 
gon,  to  promote  her  marriage  with 
his  son  Ferdinand.  The  elder 
Chacon  was  treated  by  the  sove- 
reigns with  the  greatest  deference 
and  respect,  being  usually  called 
by  them  ' '  father. ' '  After  his  death , 
they  continued  to  manifest  a  simi- 
lar regard  towards  Don  Juan,  his 
eldest  son,  and  heir  of  his  ample 
honors  and  estates.  Salazar  de 
Mendoza,  Dignidades,  lib.  4,  cap.  1. 
—  Oviedo,  Quincuagenas,  MS.,  bat. 
1,  quinc.  2,  dial.  1,  2. 


SIEGE  OF  BAZA. 


57 


not  been  stained  with  a  single  important  reverse,  uiiaptib 

XIV 

She  concluded  with  the  assurance,  that,  if  his  sol-  ! — 

diers  would  be  true  to  their  duty,  they  might  rely 
on  her  for  the  faithful  discharge  of  hers  in  furnish- 
ing them  with  all  the  requisite  supplies. 

The  exhilarating  tone  of  this  letter  had  an  in- 
stantaneous effect,  silencing  the  scruples  of  the 
most  timid,  and  confirming  the  confidence  of  the 
others.  The  soldiers,  in  particular,  who  had  re- 
ceived with  dissatisfaction  some  intimation  of  what 
was  passing  in  the  council,  welcomed  it  with  gener- 
al enthusiasm ;  and  every  heart  seemed  now  intent 
on  furthering  the  wishes  of  their  heroic  queen  by 
prosecuting  the  siege  with  the  utmost  vigor. 

The  army  was  accordingly  distributed  into  two 
encampments  ;  one  under  the  marquis  duke  of 
Cadiz,  supported  by  the  artillery,  the  other  under 
king  Ferdinand  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  city. 
Between  the  two,  lay  the  garden  or  orchard  before 
mentioned,  extending  a  league  in  length  ;  so  that, 
in  order  to  connect  the  works  of  the  two  camps,  it 
became  necessary  to  get  possession  of  this  contest- 
ed ground,  and  to  clear  it  of  the  heavy  timber  with 
which  it  was  covered. 

This  laborious  operation  was  intrusted  to  the  c.^tm 

1  cleared  of 

commander  of  Leon,  and  the  work  was  covered  by  tht'iI  tinib"r 
a  detachment  of  seven  thousand  troops,  posted  in 
such  a  manner  as  to  check  the  sallies  of  the  gar- 
rison. Notwithstanding  four  thousand  taladores, 
or  pioneers,  were  employed  in  the  task,  the  forest 
was  so  dense,  and  the  sorties  from  the  city  so  an- 


VOL.  II. 


8 


58 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


p\ht     noying,  that  the  work  of  devastation  did  not  ad- 

■  ■ —  vance  more  than  ten  paees  a  day,  and  was  not 

completed  before  the  expiration  of  seven  weeks. 
When  the  ancient  groves,  so  long  the  ornament  and 
protection  of  the  city%  were  levelled  to  the  ground, 
preparations  were  made  for  connecting  the  two 
camps,  by  a  deep  trench,  through  which  the  moun- 
tain waters  were  made  to  flow ;  while  the  borders 
were  fortified  with  palisades,  constructed  of  the 
timber  lately  hewn,  together  with  strong  towers  of 
mud  or  clay,  arranged  at  regular  intervals.  In  this 
manner,  the  investment  of  the  city  was  complete 
on  the  side  of  the  vega.  11 
cit>-  cioseiy      As  means  of  communication  still  remained  open, 

invested.  r 

however,  by  the  opposite  sierra,  defences  of  similar 
strength,  consisting  of  two  stone  walls  separated 
by  a  deep  trench,  were  made  to  run  along  the  rocky 
heights  and  ravines  of  the  mountains  until  they 
touched  the  extremities  of  the  fortifications  on  the 
plain ;  and  thus  Baza  was  encompassed  by  an  un- 
broken line  of  circumvallation. 

In  the  progress  of  the  laborious  work,  which 
occupied  ten  thousand  men,  under  the  indefatigable 
commander  of  Leon,  for  the  space  of  two  months, 
it  would  have  been  easy  for  the  people  of  Guadix, 
or  of  Granada,  by  cooperation  with  the  sallies  of 
the  besieged,  to  place  the  Christian  army  in  great 
peril.  Some  feeble  demonstration  of  such  a  move- 
ment was  made  at  Guadix,  but  it  was  easily  dis- 

11  Cardonne,  Hist.  d'Afrique  et  — Peter  Martyr,  Opus  Epist.,  lib. 
d'ftspagne,  torn.  iii.  p.  304.  —  2,  epist.  73.  Bernaldez,  Reyes  Ca- 
Pulgar,  Reyes  Catolicos,  cap.  109.    tolicos,  MS.,  cap.  92. 


SIEGE  OF  BAZA. 


59 


concerted.    Indeed,  El  Zagal  was  kept  in  check  chapter 

XIV. 

by  the  fear  of  leaving  his  own  territory  open  to  his  — - — ' — 
rival,  should  he  march  against  the  Christians.  Ab- 
dallah,  in  the  mean  while,  lay  inactive  in  Granada, 
incurring  the  odium  and  contempt  of  his  people, 
who  stigmatized  him  as  a  Christian  in  heart,  and  a 
pensioner  of  the  Spanish  sovereigns.  Their  dis- 
content gradually  swelled  into  a  rebellion,  which 
was  suppressed  by  him  with  a  severity,  that  at 
length  induced  a  sullen  acquiescence  in  a  rule, 
which,  however  inglorious,  was  at  least  attended 
with  temporary  security. 12 

While  the  camp  lay  before  Baza,  a  singular  Mission  from 

*  J  '  O  the  Sultan 

mission  was  received  from  the  sultan  of  Egypt,  ofE«'J,L 
who  had  been  solicited  by  the  Moors  of  Granada 
to  interpose  in  their  behalf  with  the  Spanish  sove- 
reigns. Two  Franciscan  friars,  members  of  a  re- 
ligious community  in  Palestine,  were  bearers  of 
despatches ;  which,  after  remonstrating  with  the 
sovereigns  on  their  persecution  of  the  Moors,  con- 
trasted it  with  the  protection  uniformly  extended 
by  the  sultan  to  the  Christians  in  his  dominions. 
The  communication  concluded  with  menacing  a 
retaliation  of  similar  severities  on  these  latter,  un- 
less the  sovereigns  desisted  from  their  hostilities 
towards  Granada. 

From  the  camp,  the  two  ambassadors  proceeded 
to  Jaen,  where  they  were  received  by  the  queen 
with  all  the  deference  due  to  their  holy  profession, 


12  Conde,  Dominacion  de   los    25,  cap.  12. — Pulgar,  Reyes  Ca- 
Arabes,  torn.  iii.  cap.  40.  —  Mari-    tolicos,  cap.  111. 
ana,  Hist,  de  Espaila,  torn.  ii.  lib. 


60 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


part  which  seemed  to  derive  additional  sanctity  iron* 
— -  the  spot  in  which  it  was  exercised.  The  menacing 
import  of  the  sultan's  communication,  however, 
had  no  power  to  shake  the  purposes  of  Ferdinand 
and  Isabella,  who  made  answer,  that  they  had 
uniformly  observed  the  same  policy  in  regard  to 
their  Mahometan,  as  to  their  Christian  subjects ; 
but  that  they  could  no  longer  submit  to  see  their 
ancient  and  rightful  inheritance  in  the  hands  of 
strangers  ;  and  that,  if  these  latter  would  consent 
to  live  under  their  rule,  as  true  and  loyal  subjects, 
they  should  experience  the  same  paternal  indul- 
gence which  had  been  shown  to  their  brethren. 
With  this  answer  the  reverend  emissaries  returned 
to  the  Holy  Land,  accompanied  by  substantial 
marks  of  the  royal  favor,  in  a  yearly  pension  of 
one  thousand  ducats,  which  the  queen  settled  in 
perpetuity  on  their  monastery,  together  with  a 
richly  embroidered  veil,  the  work  of  her  own  fair 
hands,  to  be  suspended  over  the  Holy  Sepulchre. 
The  sovereigns  subsequently  despatched  the  learn- 
ed Peter  Martyr  as  their  envoy  to  the  Moslem 
court,  in  order  to  explain  their  proceedings  more 
at  length,  and  avert  any  disastrous  consequences 
from  the  Christian  residents. 13 

In  the  mean  while,  the  siege  went  forward  with 
spirit ;  skirmishes  and  single  rencontres  taking 
place  every  day  between  the  high-mettled  cavaliers 
on  both  sides.  These  chivalrous  combats,  how- 
ever, were  discouraged  by  Ferdinand,  who  would 

13  Pulgar,  Reyes  Catolicos,  cap.  112.  —  Ferreras,  Hist.  d'Espagne. 
torn.  viii.  p.  86. 


SIEGE  OF  BAZA. 


Gl 


have  confined  his  operations  to  strict  blockade,  and  chapter 

XIV. 

avoided  the  unnecessary  effusion  of  blood  ;  espe-   1— 

ciallj  as  the  advantage  was  most  commonly  on  the 
side  of  the  enemy,  from  the  peculiar  adaptation  of 
their  tactics  to  this  desultory  warfare.  Although 
some  months  had  elapsed,  the  besieged  rejected 
with  scorn  every  summons  to  surrender  ;  relying 
on  their  own  resources,  and  still  more  on  the  tem- 
pestuous season  of  autumn,  now  fast  advancing, 
which,  if  it  did  not  break  up  the  encampment  at 
once,  would  at  least,  by  demolishing  the  roads,  cut 
off  all  external  communication. 

In  order  to  guard  against  these  impending  evils,  Houses 

*  o  I  O  »    erected  for 

Ferdinand  caused  more  than  a  thousand  houses,  or  lhearm* 
rather  huts,  to  be  erected,  with  walls  of  earth  or 
clay,  and  roofs  made  of  timber  and  tiles ;  while  the 
common  soldiers  constructed  cabins  by  means  of 
palisades  loosely  thatched  with  the  branches  of 
trees.  The  whole  work  was  accomplished  in  four 
days  ;  and  the  inhabitants  of  Baza  beheld  with 
amazement  a  city  of  solid  edifices,  with  all  its 
streets  and  squares  in  regular  order,  springing  as 
it  were  by  magic  out  of  the  ground,  which  had 
before  been  covered  with  the  light  and  airy  pa- 
vilions of  the  camp.  The  new  city  was  well  sup- 
plied, owing  to  the  providence  of  the  queen,  not 
merely  with  the  necessaries,  but  the  luxuries  of 
life.  Traders  flocked  there  as  to  a  fair,  from  Ara- 
gon,  Valencia,  Catalonia,  and  even  Sicily,  freighted 
with  costly  merchandise,  and  with  jewelry  and 
other  articles  of  luxury ;  such  as,  in  the  indignant 
lament  of  an  old  chronicler,  "  too  often  corrupt  the 


62 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


i'art  souls  of  the  soldiery,  and  bring  waste  and  dissi- 
—         pation  into  a  camp." 

it8  strict        That  this  was  not  the  result,  however,  in  the 

discipline.  7  3 

present  instance,  is  attested  by  more  than  one  his- 
torian. Ampng  others,  Peter  Martyr,  the  Italian 
scholar  before  mentioned,  who  was  present  at  this 
siege,  dwells  with  astonishment  on  the  severe  de- 
corum and  military  discipline,  which  everywhere 
obtained  among  this  motley  congregation  of  soldiers. 
"  AVho  would  have  believed,"  says  he,  "  that  the 
Galician,  the  fierce  Asturian,  and  the  rude  inhabitant 
of  the  Pyrenees,  men  accustomed  to  deeds  of  atro- 
cious violence,  and  to  brawl  and  battle  on  the 
lightest  occasions  at  home,  should  mingle  amicably, 
not  only  with  one  another,  but  with  the  Toledans, 
La-Manchans,  and  the  wily  and  jealous  Andalusian  ; 
all  living  together  in  harmonious  subordination  to 
authority,  like  members  of  one  family,  speaking  one 
tongue,  and  nurtured  under  a  common  discipline  ; 
so  that  the  camp  seemed  like  a  community  modelled 
on  the  principles  of  Plato's  republic  !  "  In  another 
part  of  this  letter,  which  was  addressed  to  a  Mil- 
anese prelate,  he  panegyrizes  the  camp  hospital  of 
the  queen,  then  a  novelty  in  war ;  which,  he  says. 
"  is  so  profusely  supplied  with  medical  attendants, 
apparatus,  and  whatever  may  contribute  to  the  res- 
toration or  solace  of  the  sick,  that  it  is  scarcely 
surpassed  in  these  respects  by  the  magnificent 
establishments  of  Milan."  14 

14  Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catolicos,    lib.  2,epist.  73. 80. — Pulgar,  Reyes 
MS.—  Peter  Martyr,  Opus  Epist.,    Catolicos,  cap.  113,  114,  117.— 


•SIEGE  OF  BAZA.  63 

During  the  five  months  which  the  siege  had  now  ciiaftek 
lasted,  the  weather  had  proved  uncommonly  pro  pi-  L— 

.      a        .j,    .       r       ,  r  Heavy 

tious  to  the  Spaniards,  being  tor  the  most  part  of  a  Pest- 
bland  and  equal  temperature,  while  the  sultry  heats 
of  midsummer  were  mitigated  by  cool  and  moderate 
showers.  As  the  autumnal  season  advanced,  how- 
ever, the  clouds  began  to  settle  heavily  around  the 
mountains ;  and  at  length  one  of  those  storms,  pre- 
dicted by  the  people  of  Baza,  burst  forth  with 
incredible  fury,  pouring  a  volume  of  waters  down 
the  rocky  sides  of  the  sierra,  which,  mingling  with 
those  of  the  vega,  inundated  the  camp  of  the  be- 
siegers, and  swept  away  most  of  the  frail  edifices 
constructed  for  the  use  of  the  common  soldiery.  A 
still  greater  calamity  befell  them  in  the  dilapidation 
of  the  roads,  which,  broken  up  or  worn  into  deep 
gullies  by  the  force  of  the  waters,  were  rendered 
perfectly  impassable.  All  communication  was  of 
course  suspended  with  Jaen,  and  a  temporary  inter- 
ruption of  the  convoys  filled  the  gamp  with  con- 
sternation. This  disaster,  however,  was  speedily 
repaired  by  the  queen,  who,  with  an  energy  always 
equal  to  the  occasion,  caused  six  thousand  pioneers 
to  be  at  once  employed  in  reconstructing  the  roads ; 
the  rivers  were  bridged  over,  causeways  new  laid,  and 
two  separate  passes  opened  through  the  mountains, 

Garibay,  Compendio,  torn.  ii.  p.  good  faith,  religion,  and  virtue,  ban- 

667.  —  Bleda,  Coronica,  p.  64.  ished  the  contagion  from  their  army, 

The  plague,  which  fell  heavily  where  it  must  otherwise  have  pre- 

this  year  on  some  parts  of  Andalu-  vailed."     Personal  comforts  and 

sia,  does  not  appear  to  have  at-  cleanliness  of  the  soldiers,  though 

tacked  the  camp,  which   Bleda  not  quite  so  miraculous  a  cause, 

imputes  to  the  healing  influence  of  may  be  considered  perhaps  full  as 

the  Spanish  sovereigns,  "  whose  efficacious. 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


t.MiT  by  which  the  convoys  might  visit  the  camp,  and 
—  return  without  interrupting  each  other.  At  the 
same  time,  the  queen  bought  up  immense  quanti- 
ties of  grain  from  all  parts  of  Andalusia,  which  she 
caused  to  be  ground  in  her  own  mills ;  and  when 
the  roads,  which  extended  more  than  seven  leagues 
in  length,  were  completed,  fourteen  thousand  mules 
might  be  seen  daily  traversing  the  sierra,  laden 
w  ith  supplies,  which  from  that  time  forward  were 
poured  abundantly,  and  with  the  most  perfect  regu- 
larity, into  the  camp.15 
Isabella's         Isabella's  next  care  was  to  assemble  new  levies 

energy. 

of  troops,  to  relieve  or  reinforce  those  now  in  the 
camp  ;  and  the  alacrity  with  which  all  orders  of 
men  from  every  quarter  of  the  kingdom  answe  red 
her  summons  is  worthy  of  remark.  But  her  chief 
solicitude  was  to  devise  expedients  for  meeting  the 
enormous  expenditures  incurred  by  the  protracted 
operations  of  the  year.  For  this  purpose,  she  had 
recourse  to  loans  from  individuals  and  religious 
corporations,  which  were  obtained  without  much 
difficulty,  from  the  general  confidence  in  her  good 
faith.  As  the  sum  thus  raised,  although  exceeding- 
ly large  for  that  period,  proved  inadequate  to  the 
expenses,  further  supplies  were  obtained  from  weal- 
thy individuals,  whose  loans  were  secured  by  mort- 
gage of  the  royal  demesne  ;  and,  as  a  deficiency 
irerpatrfot-  still  remained  in  the  treasury,  the  queen,  as  a  last 

ic  sacrifice*  J  1 

resource,  pawned  the  crown  jewels  and  her  own 
personal  ornaments  to  the  merchants  of  Barcelona 

15  Peter  Martyr,  OpusEpist.,  lib.  2,  epist.  73.  —  Pulgar,  Reyes  Cat6- 
licos,  cap.  116. 


SIEGE  OF  BAZA. 


65 


and  Valencia,  for  such  sums  as  thejr  were  willing  chapter 

XIV 

to  advance  on  them.  16    Such  were  the  efforts  made   

by  this  high-spirited  woman,  for  the  furtherance  of 
her  patriotic  enterprise.  The  extraordinary  results, 
which  she  was  enabled  to  effect,  are  less  to  be  as- 
cribed to  the  authority  of  her  station,  than  to  that 
perfect  confidence  in  her  wisdom  and  virtue,  with 
which  she  had  inspired  the  whole  nation,  and  which 
secured  their  earnest  cooperation  in  all  her  under- 
takings. The  empire,  which  she  thus  exercised, 
indeed,  was  far  more  extended  than  any  station 
however  exalted,  or  any  authority  however  des- 
potic, can  confer  ;  for  it  was  over  the  hearts  of  her 
people. 

Notwithstanding  the  vigor  with  which  the  siege  JffojJ1^ 
was  pressed,  Baza  made  no  demonstration  of  sub-  BleseJ' 
mission.  The  garrison  was  indeed  greatly  reduced 
in  number  ;  the  ammunition  was  nearly  expended  ; 
yet  there  still  remained  abundant  supplies  of  pro- 
visions in  the  town,  and  no  signs  of  despondency 
appeared  among  the  people.  Even  the  women  of 
the  place,  with  a  spirit  emulating  that  of  the  dames 
of  ancient  Carthage,  freely  gave  up  their  jewels, 
bracelets,  necklaces,  and  other  personal  ornaments, 


!6  Pulgar,  Reyes  Catolicos,  cap. 
118.  —  Archive-  de  Simancas,  in 
Mem.  de  la  Acad,  de  Hist.,  torn, 
vi.  p.  311. 

The  city  of  Valencia  lent  35,000 
florins  on  the  crown  and  20,000 
on  a  collar  of  rubies.  They 
were  not  wholly  redeemed  till 
1405.  Sefior  Clemencin  has  given 
a  catalogue  of  the  royal  jewels, 
(see  Mem.  de  la  Acad,  de  Hist., 
VOL.  II.  9 


torn.  vi.  Ilustracion  6,)  which  ap- 
pear to  have  been  extremely  rich 
and  numerous,  for  a  period  an- 
terior to  the  discovery  of  those 
countries,  whose  mines  have  since 
furnished  Europe  with  its  bijou- 
terie. Isabella,  however,  set  so  lit- 
tle value  on  them,  that  she  divest- 
ed herself  of  most  of  them  ir 
favor  of  her  daughters. 


66 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


part     of  which  the  Moorish    ladies  were  exceedingly 
— ■  fond,  in  order  to  defray  the  charges  of  the  merce- 
naries. 

The  camp  of  the  besiegers,  in  the  mean  while, 
was  also  greatly  wasted  both  by  sickness  and  the 
sword.  Many,  desponding  under  perils  and  fa- 
tigues, which  seemed  to  have  no  end,  would  even 
at  this  late  hour  have  abandoned  the  siege ;  and 
they  earnestly  solicited  the  queen's  appearance  in 
the  camp,  in  the  hope  that  she  would  herself  coun- 
tenance this  measure,  on  witnessing  their  suffer- 
ings. Others,  and  by  far  the  larger  part,  anxiously 
desired  the  queen's  visit,  as  likely  to  quicken  the 
operations  of  the  siege,  and  bring  it  to  a  favorable 
issue.  There  seemed  to  be  a  virtue  in  her  pres- 
ence, which,  on  some  account  or  other,  made  it 
earnestly  desired  by  all. 
Itats'Ihe  Isabella  yielded  to  the  general  wish,  and  on  the 
•""p-  7th  of  November  arrived  before  the  camp,  attend- 
ed by  the  infanta  Isabella,  the  cardinal  of  Spain, 
her  friend  the  marchioness  of  Moya,  and  other 
ladies  of  the  roval  household.  The  inhabitants  of 
Baza,  says  Bernaldez,  lined  the  battlements  and 
housetops,  to  gaze  at  the  glittering  cavalcade  as  it 
emerged  from  the  depths  of  the  mountains,  amidst 
flaunting  banners  and  strains  of  martial  music, 
while  the  Spanish  cavaliers  thronged  forth  in  a 
body  from  the  camp  to  receive  their  beloved  mis- 
tress, and  gave  her  the  most  animated  welcome. 
"  She  came,"  says  Martyr,  "  surrounded  by  a  choir 
of  nymphs,  as  if  to  celebrate  the  nuptials  of  her 
child  ;  and  her  presence  seemed  at  once  to  gladden. 


SIEGE  OF  BAZA. 


67 


and  reanimate  our  spirits,  drooping  under  long  chapter 
vigils,  dangers,  and  fatigue."  Another  writer,  also  ' 
present,  remarks,  that,  from  the  moment  of  her  ap- 
pearance, a  change  seemed  to  come  over  the  scene. 
No  more  of  the  cruel  skirmishes,  which  had  before 
occurred  every  day  ;  no  report  of  artillery,  or  clash- 
ing of  arms,  or  any  of  the  rude  sounds  of  war,  was 
to  be  heard,  but  all  seemed  disposed  to  reconcilia- 
tion and  peace.17 

The  Moors  probably  interpreted  Isabella's  visit 
jnto  an  assurance,  that  the  Christian  army  would 
never  rise  from  before  the  place  until  its  surrender. 
Whatever  hopes  they  had  once  entertained  of 
wearying  out  the  besiegers,  were  therefore  now 
dispelled.  Accordingly,  a  few  days  after  the  queen's 
arrival,  we  find  them  proposing  a  parley  for  arrang- 
ing terms  of  capitulation. 

On  the  third  dav  after  her  arrival,  Isabella  re-  Suspension 

J  of  arms. 

viewed  her  army,  stretched  out  in  order  of  battle 
along  the  slope  of  the  western  hills ;  after  which, 
she  proceeded  to  reconnoitre  the  beleaguered  city, 
accompanied  by  the  king  and  the  cardinal  of  Spain, 
together  with  a  brilliant  escort  of  the  Spanish  chiv- 
alry. On  the  same  day,  a  conference  was  opened 
with  the  enemy  through  the  comendador  of  Leon  ; 
and  an  armistice  arranged,  to  continue  until  the  old 
monarch,  El  Zagal,  who  then  lay  at  Guadix,  could 
be  informed  of  the  real  condition  of  the  besieged, 

!7  Bernaldez,  Reyes  Cat61icos,  ras,  Hist.  d'Espagne,  torn.  viii.  p. 
MS.,  cap.  92.  —  Pulgar,  Reyes  93. — Peter  Martyr,  Opus  Epist., 
Catolicos,  cap.  120,  121.  — -Ferre-   lib.  3,  epist.  80. 


68 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


part  and  his  instructions  be  received,  determining  the 
— ~        course  to  be  adopted. 

der?surren"  ^he  alcayde  °f  Baza  represented  to  his  master 
the  low  state  to  which  the  garrison  was  reduced  by 
the  loss  of  lives  and  the  failure  of  ammunition. 
Still,  he  expressed  such  confidence  in  the  spirit  of  his 
people,  that  he  undertook  to  make  good  his  defence 
some  time  longer,  provided  any  reasonable  expec- 
tation of  succour  could  be  afforded  ;  otherwise,  it 
would  be  a  mere  waste  of  life,  and  must  deprive 
him  of  such  vantage  ground  as  he  now  possessed, 
far  enforcing  an  honorable  capitulation.  The  Mos- 
lem prince  acquiesced  in  the  reasonableness  of 
these  representations.  He  paid  a  just  tribute  to 
his  brave  kinsman  Cidi  Yahye's  loyalty,  and  the 
gallantry  of  his  defence  ;  but,  confessing  at  the 
same  time  his  own  inability  to  relieve  him,  author- 
ized him  to  negotiate  the  best  terms  of  surrender 
which  he  could,  for  himself  and  garrison. 18 

conditions.  A  mutual  desire  of  terminating  the  protracted 
hostilities  infused  a  spirit  of  moderation  into  both 
parties,  which  greatly  facilitated  the  adjustment  of 
the  articles.  Ferdinand  showed  none  of  the  arro- 
gant bearing,  which  marked  his  conduct  towards 
the  unfortunate  people  of  Malaga,  whether  from  a 
conviction  of  its  impolicy,  or,  as  is  more  probable, 
because  the  city  of  Baza  was  itself  in  a  condition 
to  assume  a  more  imposing  attitude.    The  principal 

18  Peter  Martyr,  Opus  Epist.,  — Carbajal,  Annies,  MS  ,  afio 
lib.  3,  epist.  80.  —  Cc-nde,  Domina-  1489.  —  Cardonne,  Hist.  d'Afrique 
cio-n  do  los  Arabes,  torn.  iii.  p.  212.    et  d'Espagne,  torn.  iii.  p.  305. 


0 

SIEGE  OF  BAZA. 


69 


stipulations  of  the  treaty  were,  that  the  foreign  chapter 

mercenaries  employed  in  the  defence  of  the  place   XIV'  . 

should  be  allowed  to  march  out  with  the  honors  of 
war ;  that  the  city  should  be  delivered  up  to  the 
Christians;  but  that  the  natives  might  have  the 
choice  of  retiring  with  their  personal  effects  where 
they  listed ;  or  of  occupying  the  suburbs,  as  sub- 
jects of  the  Castilian  crown,  liable  only  to  the  same 
tribute  which  they  paid  to  their  Moslem  rulers,  and 
secured  in  the  enjoyment  of  their  property,  religion, 
laws,  and  usages. 19 

On  the  fourth  day  of  December,  1489,  Ferdi-  occupation 

J  1  7  of  the  city. 

nand  and  Isabella  took  possession  of  Baza,  at  the 
head  of  their  legions,  amid  the  ringing  of  bells,  the 
peals  of  artillery,  and  all  the  other  usual  accompani- 
ments of  this  triumphant  ceremony;  while  the  stand- 
ard of  the  Cross,  floating  from  the  ancient  battle- 
ments of  the  city,  proclaimed  the  triumph  of  the 
Christian  arms.  The  brave  alcayde,  Cidi  Yahye, 
experienced  a  reception  from  the  sovereigns  very 
different  from  that  of  the  bold  defender  of  Malaga. 
He  was  loaded  with  civilities  and  presents ;  and 
these  acts  of  courtesy  so  won  upon  his  heart,  that  he 
expressed  a  willingness  to  enter  into  their  service. 
"  Isabella's  compliments,"  says  the  Arabian  histo- 
rian, drily,  "  were  repaid  in  more  substantial  coin.-" 

Cidi  Yahye  was  soon  prevailed  on  to  visit  his  Treaty  of 

J  1  surrender  " 

royal  kinsman  El  Zagal,  at  Guadix,  for  the  purpose 
of  urging  his  submission  to  the  Christian  sovereigns. 
In  his  interview  with  that  prince,  he  represented 

!9  Pulcrar,  Reyes  Catolicos,  cap.  104. —  Marmol,  Rebelion  de  Moris- 
cos,  lib.  1,  cap.  16. 


70  WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


part  the  fruitlessness  of  any  attempt  to  withstand  the 
L  accumulated  forces  of  the  Spanish  monarchies  ;  that 
he  would  only  see  town  after  town  pared  away 
from  his  territory,  until  no  ground  was  left  for  him 
to  stand  on,  and  make  terms  with  the  victor.  He 
reminded  him,  that  the  baleful  horoscope  of  Abdal- 
lah  had  predicted  the  downfall  of  Granada,  and  that 
experience  had  abundantly  shown  how  vain  it  was 
to  struggle  against  the  tide  of  destiny.  The  unfor- 
tunate monarch  listened,  says  the  Arabian  annalist, 
without  so  much  as  moving  an  eyelid ;  and,  after  a 
long  and  deep  meditation,  replied  with  the  resigna- 
tion characteristic  of  the  Moslems,  "  What  Allah 
wills,  he  brings  to  pass  in  his  own  way.  Had  he 
not  decreed  the  foil  of  Granada,  this  good  sword 
might  have  saved  it ;  but  his  will  be  done ! "  It 
was  then  arranged,  that  the  principal  cities  of  Alme- 
ria,  Guadix,  and  their  dependencies,  constituting 
the  domain  of  El  Zagal,  should  be  formally  surren- 
dered by  that  prince  to  Ferdinand  and  Isabella, 
who  should  instantly  proceed  at  the  head  of  theii 
army  to  take  possession  of  them.20 
mSSofihe  ^n  tne  seventn  day  °f  December,  therefore,  the 
Spanish  sovereigns,  without  allowing  themselves  or 
their  jaded  troops  any  time  for  repose,  marched  out 
of  the  gates  of  Baza,  king  Ferdinand  occupying  the 
centre,  and  the  queen  the  rear  of  the  army.  Their 
route  lay  across  the  most  savage  district  of  the  long 
sierra,  which  stretches  towards  Almeria  ;  leading 


march  of  the 
Spanish 
army. 


20  Conde,  Dominacion  de  Jos  Reyes  Catolieos,  MS.,  cap.  92. — 
Arabes,  torn  iii.  cap.  40.  —  Ble-  Marmol,  Rebeliim  de  Monscos,  lib. 
da,  Coronica,  p.  612.  —  Bernaldez,    1,  cap.  10. 


SIEGE  OF  BAZA. 


71 


through  many  a  narrow  pass,  which  a  handful  of  chapter 
resolute  Moors,  says  an  eyewitness,  might  have  X1V' 
made  good  against  the  whole  Christian  army,  over 
mountains  whose  peaks  were  lost  in  clouds,  and 
valleys  whose  depths  were  never  warmed  by  a  sun. 
The  winds  were  exceedingly  bleak,  and  the  weather 
inclement ,  so  that  men,  as  well  as  horses,  exhausted 
by  the  fatigues  of  previous  service,  were  benumbed 
by  the  intense  cold,  and  many  of  them  frozen  to 
death.  Many  more,  losing  their  way  in  the  intrica- 
cies of  the  sierra,  would  have  experienced  the  same 
miserable  fate,  had  it  not  been  for  the  marquis  of 
Cadiz,  whose  tent  was  pitched  on  one  of  the  loftiest 
hills,  and  who  caused  beacon  fires  to  be  lighted 
around  it,  in  order  to  guide  the  stragglers  back  to 
their  quarters. 

At  no  great  distance  from  Almeria,  Ferdinand  interne* 

°  between 

was  met,  conformably  to  the  previous  arrangement,  ui?dEizn4«i. 
by  El  Zagal,  escorted  by  a  numerous  body  of 
Moslem  cavaliers.  Ferdinand  commanded  his  no- 
bles to  ride  forward  and  receive  the  Moorish  prince. 
u  His  appearance,"  says  Martyr,  who  was  in  the 
royal  retinue,  "  touched  my  soul  with  compassion  ; 
for,  although  a  lawless  barbarian,  he  was  a  king, 
and  had  given  signal  proofs  of  heroism."  El 
Zagal,  without  waiting  to  receive  the  courtesies  of 
the  Spanish  nobles,  threw  himself  from  his  horse, 
and  advanced  towards  Ferdinand  with  the  design 
of  kissing  his  hand  ;  but  the  latter,  rebuking  his 
followers  for  their  "  rusticity,"  in  allowing  such  an 
act  of  humiliation  in  the  unfortunate  monarch,  pre- 


72 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


part  vailed  on  him  to  remount,  and  then  rode  by  his 
 -        side  towards  Almeria. 21 

of^'zS'i  This  city  was  one  of  the  most  precious  jewels 
domain.  jn  diac|em  0f  Granada.  It  had  amassed  great 
wealth  by  its  extensive  commerce  with  Syria, 
Egypt,  and  Africa  ;  and  its  corsairs  had  for  ages 
been  the  terror  of  the  Catalan  and  Pisan  marine. 
It  might  have  stood  a  siege  as  long  as  that  of  Baza, 
but  it  was  now  surrendered  without  a  blow,  on 
conditions  similar  to  those  granted  to  the  former 
city.  After  allowing  some  days  for  the  refresh- 
ment of  their  wearied  forces  in  this  pleasant  re- 
gion, which,  sheltered  from  the  bleak  winds  of  the 
north  by  the  sierra  they  had  lately  traversed,  and 
fanned  by  the  gentle  breezes  of  the  Mediterranean, 
is  compared  by  Martyr  to  the  gardens  of  the  Hes- 
perides,  the  sovereigns  established  a  strong  garri- 
son there,  under  the  commander  of  Leon,  and 
then,  striking  again  into  the  recesses  of  the  moun- 
tains, marched  on  Guadix,  which,  after  some  op- 
position on  the  part  of  the  populace,  threw  open 
its  gates  to  them.  The  surrender  of  these  princi- 
pal cities  was  followed  by  that  of  all  the  subordi- 
nate dependencies  belonging  to  El  ZagaPs  territo- 
ry, comprehending  a  multitude  of  hamlets  scattered 
along  the  green  sides  of  the  mountain  chain  that 
stretched  from  Granada  to  the  coast.  To  all  these 
places  the  same  liberal  terms,  in  regard  to  personal 
rights  and  property,  were  secured,  as  to  Baza. 

21  Peter  Martyr,  Opus  Epist.Jib.  p.  340.  —  Pulgar,  Reyes  Catolicos, 
3,  epist.  81.  —  Cardonne,  Hist.  loc.  cit. —  Conde,  Dominacion  de 
d'A.frique  et  d'Espagne,  torn.  iii.    los  Arabes,  torn.  iii.  cap.  40. 


SIEGE  01<  BAZA. 


13 


As  an  equivalent  for  the$p  broad  domains,  the  chapter 
Moorish  chief  was  placed  in  possession  of  the  taha,  Xlv'  , 
or  district,  of  Andaraz,  the  vale  of  Alhaurin,  and  SSSbSmS 

him. 

half  the  salt-pits  of  Maleha,  together  with  a  con- 
siderable revenue  in  money.  He  was,  moreover,  to 
receive  the  title  of  King  of  Andaraz,  and  to  render 
homage  for  his  estates  to  the  crown  of  Castile. 

This  shadow  of  royalty  could  not  long  amuse  the 
mind  of  the  unfortunate  prince.  He  pined  away 
amid  the  scenes  of  his  ancient  empire  ;  and,  after 
experiencing  some  insubordination  on  the  part  of 
his  new  vassals,  he  determined  to  relinquish  his 
petty  principality,  and  withdraw  for  ever  from  his 
native  land.  Having  received  a  large  sum  of 
money,  as  an  indemnification  for  the  entire  cession 
of  his  territorial  rights  and  possessions  to  the  Cas- 
tilian  crown,  he  passed  over  to  Africa,  where,  it  is 
reported,  he  was  plundered  of  his  property  by  the 
barbarians,  and  condemned  to  starve  out  the  re- 
mainder of  his  days  in  miserable  indigence.22 

The  suspicious  circumstances  attending  this 
prince's  accession  to  the  throne,  throw  a  dark 
cloud  over  his  fame,  which  wrould  otherwise  seem, 
at  least  as  far  as  his  public  life  is  concerned,  to  be 
unstained  by  any  opprobrious  act.  He  possessed 
such  energy,  talent,  and  military  science,  as,  had 
he  been  fortunate  enough  to  unite  the  Moorish 
nation  under  him  by  an  undisputed  title,  might 


22  El  Nubiense,  Descripcion  de 
Espana,  p.  160,  not.  —  Carbajal, 
Anales,  MS.,  aim  1488.  — Car- 
donne,  Hist.  d'Afrique  et  d'Es- 
pagne,  torn.  Hi.  p.  304. — Peter 

VOL.  II.  10 


Martyr,  Opus  Epist.,  lib.  3,  epist. 
81.  —  Conde,  Dominacion  de  los 
Arabes,  torn.  iii.  pp.  245,  246. — 
Bernaldez,  Reyes  CatoHcos,  MS., 
cap.  93. 


74 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


part     have  postponed  the  fall  of  Granada  for  many  years. 

 .  As  it  was,  these  very  talents,  by  dividing  the  state 

in  his  favor,  served  only  to  precipitate  its  ruin. 
1  4  90.  The  Spanish  sovereigns,  having  accomplished 
the  object  of  the  campaign,  after  stationing  part  of 
their  forces  on  such  points  as  would  secure  the  per- 
manence of  their  conquests,  returned  with  the  re- 
mainder to  Jaen,  where  they  disbanded  the  army 
on  the  4th  of  January,  1490.  The  losses  sustained 
by  the  troops,  during  the  whole  period  of  their 
prolonged  service,  greatly  exceeded  those  of  any 
former  year,  amounting  to  not  less  than  twenty 
thousand  men,  by  far  the  larger  portion  of  whom 
arc  said  to  have  fallen  victims  to  diseases  incident 
to  severe  and  long-continued  hardships  and  ex- 
posure. 23 

SrScSIu-  Thus  terminated  the  eighth  year  of  the  war  of 
pa.gn.  Granada  ;  a  year  more  glorious  to  the  Christian 
arms,  and  more  important  in  its  results,  than  any 
of  the  preceding.  During  this  period,  an  army  of 
eighty  thousand  men  had  kept  the  field,  amid  all 
the  inclemencies  of  winter,  for  more  than  seven 
months ;  an  effort  scarcely  paralleled  in  these  times, 
when  both  the  amount  of  levies,  and  period  of  ser- 
vice, were  on  the  limited  scale  adapted  to  the  ex- 
igencies of  feudal  warfare.24    Supplies  for  this  im- 

23  Zurita,  Anales,  torn.  r.  fol.  foot  under  the  count  of  Cifuentes, 
360.  —  Abarca,  Reyes  de  Aragon,  for  the  space  of  eight  months  dur- 
tom.  ii.  fol.  308.  ing  this  siege.    See  Zuiliga,  An- 

24  The  city  of  Seville  alone   nales  de  Sevilla,  p.  404. 
maintained  600  horse  and  8,000 


Notice  of 
Pater  Mar- 
tyr. 


Pietro  Martire,  or,  as  he  is  call-  often  quoted  in  the  present  chap- 
ed  in  English,  Peter  Martyr,  so    ter,  and  who  will  constitute  one 


SIEGE  OF  BAZA. 

mense  host,  notwithstanding  the  severe  famine  of  chapter 

XIV 

the  preceding  year,  were  punctually  furnished,  in   

spite  of  every  embarrassment  presented  by  the  want 
of  navigable  rivers,  and  the  interposition  of  a  pre- 
cipitous and  pathless  sierra. 

The  history  of  this  campaign  is,  indeed,  most 
honorable  to  the  courage,  constancy,  and  thorough  ence!"flu 
discipline  of  the  Spanish  soldier,  and  to  the  patriot- 
ism and  general  resources  of  the  nation  ;  but  most 
of  all  to  Isabella.    She  it  was,  who  fortified  the 


of  our  best  authorities  during  the 
remainder  of  the  history,  was  a 
native  of  Arona  (not  of  Anghiera, 
as  commonly  supposed),  a  place 
sitoated  on  the  borders  of  Lake 
Mapfriore  in  Italy.  (Mazzuchel- 
.i,  Scrittori  d' Italia,  (Brescia,  1753 
-63,)  torn.  ii.  voce  Anghiera.)  He 
was  of  noble  Milanese  extraction. 
In  1477,  at  twenty-two  years  of 
age,  he  was  sent  to  complete 
his  education  at  Rome,  where  he 
continued  ten  years,  and  formed 
an  intimacy  with  the  most  distin- 
guished literary  characters  of  that 
cultivated  capital.  In  1487,  he 
was  persuaded  by  the  Castilian 
ambassador,  the  count  of  Tendilla, 
to  accompany  him  to  Spain,  where 
he  was  received  with  marked  dis- 
tinction by  the  queen,  who  would 
have  at  once  engaged  him  in  the 
tuition  of  the  young  nobility  of  the 
court,  but,  Martyr  having  express- 
ed a  preference  of  a  military  life, 
she,  with  her  usual  delicacy,  de- 
clined to  press  him  on  the  point. 
He  was  present,  as  we  have  seen, 
at  the  siege  of  Baza,  and  continued 
with  the  army  during  the  subse- 
quent campaigns  of  the  Moorish 
war.  Many  passages  of  his  cor- 
respondence, at  this  period,  show  a 
whimsical  mixture  of  self-compla- 
cency with  a  consciousness  of  the 
ludicrous  figure  which  he  made  in 
"  exchanging  the  Muses  for  Mars." 


At  the  close  of  the  war,  he  en- 
tered the  ecclesiastical  profession, 
for  which  he  had  been  originally 
destined,  and  was  persuaded  to  re- 
sume his  literary  vocation.  He 
opened  his  school  at  Valladolid, 
Saragossa,  Barcelona,  Alcala  de 
Henares,  and  other  places  ;  and  it 
was  thronged  with  the  principal 
young  nobility  from  all  parts  of 
Spain,  who,  as  he  boasts  in  one 
of  his  letters,  drew  their  literary 
nourishment  from  him.  "  Suxe- 
runt  mea  literalia  ubera  Castellee 
principes  fere  omnes."  His  im- 
portant services  were  fully  esti- 
mated by  the  queen,  and,  after  her 
death,  by  JFerdinand  and  Charles 
V.,  and  he  was  recompensed  with 
high  ecclesiastical  preferment  as 
well  as  civil  dignities.  He  died 
about  the  year  1525,  at  the  age  of 
seventy,  and  his  remains  were  in- 
terred beneath  a  monument  in  the 
cathedral  church  of  Granada,  of 
which  he  was  prior. 

Among  Martyr's  principal  works 
is  a  treatise  "  De  Legatione  Baby- 
lonica,"  being  an  account  of  a  visit 
to  the  sultan  of  Egypt,  in  1501,  for 
the  purpose  of  deprecating  the  re- 
taliation with  which  he  had  men- 
aced the  Christian  residents  in 
Palestine,  for  the  injuries  inflicted 
on  the  Spanish  Moslems.  Peter 
Martyr  conducted  his  negotiation 
with  such  address,  that  he  not  only 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


timid  councils  of  the  leaders,  after  the  disasters  of 
the  garden,  and  encouraged  them  to  persevere  in 
the  siege.  She  procured  all  the  supplies,  con- 
structed the  roads,  took  charge  of  the  sick,  and 
furnished,  at  no  little  personal  sacrifice,  the  immense 
sums  demanded  for  carrying  on  the  war;  and,  when 
at  last  the  hearts  of  the  soldiers  were  fainting  under 
long-protracted  sufferings,  she  appeared  among  them, 
like  some  celestial  visitant,  to  cheer  their  faltering 
spirits,  and  inspire  them  with  her  own  energy. 


appeased  the  sultan's  resentment, 
but  obtained  several  important  im- 
munities for  his  Christian  subjects, 
in  addition  to  those  previously  en- 
joyed by  them. 

He  also  wrote  an  account  of  the 
discoveries  of  the  new  world,  enti- 
tled "  De  Rebus  Oceanicis  et  Novo 
Orbe,"  (Coloniae,  1574,)  a  book 
largely  consulted  and  commended 
by  subsequent  historians.  But  the 
work  of  principal  value  in  our  re- 
searches is  his  "  Opus  Epistola- 
rum,"  being  a  collection  of  his 
multifarious  correspondence  with 
the  most  considerable  persons  of 
his  time,  whether  in  political  or 
literary  life.  The  letters  are  in 
Latin,  and  extend  from  the  year 
1488  to  the  time  of  his  death. 
Although  not  conspicuous  for  ele- 
gance of  diction,  they  are  most 
valuable  to  the  historian,  from  the 
fidelity  and  general  accuracy  of  the 
details,  as  well  as  for  the  intelligent 
criticism  in  which  they  abound, 
for  all  which,  uncommon  facilities 
were  afforded  by  the  writer's  inti- 
macy with  the  leading  actors,  and 
the  most  recondite  sources  of  in- 
formation of  the  period. 

This  high  character  is  fully  au- 
thorized by  the  judgments  of  those 
best  qualified  to  pronounce  on  their 
merits,  —  Martyr's  own  contempo- 
raries. Among  these,  Dr.  Galin- 
dez  de  Carbajal,  a  counsellor  of 


King  Ferdinand  and  constantly  em- 
ployed in  the  highest  concerns  of 
state,  commends  these  epistles  as 
"the  work  of  a  learned  and  up- 
right man,  well  calculated  to  throw 
light  on  the  transactions  of  the 
period."  (Anales,  MS.,  prologo.) 
Alvaro  Gomez,  another  contem- 
porary who  survived  Martyr,  in 
the  Life  of  Ximenes,  which  he  was 
selected  to  write  by  the  University 
of  Alcala,  declares,  that  "  Martyr's 
Letters  abundantly  compensate  by 
their  fidelity  for  the  unpolished 
stvle  in  which  they  are  written. " 
(De  Rebus  Gestis,  fol.  6.)  And 
John  de  Vergara,  a  name  of  the 
highest  celebrity  in  the  literary 
annals  of  the  period,  expresses 
himself  in  the  following  emphatic 
terms.  "  I  know  no  record  of  the 
time  more  accurate  and  valuable. 
I  myself  have  often  witnessed  the 
promptness  with  which  he  put 
down  things  the  moment  they  oc- 
curred. I  have  sometimes  seen 
him  write  one  or  two  letters,  while 
they  were  setting-  the  table.  For, 
as  he  did  not  pay  much  attention 
to  style  and  mere  finish  of  expres- 
sion, his  composition  required  but 
little  time,  and  experienced  no  in- 
terruption from  his  ordinary  avoca- 
tions." (See  his  letter  to  Florian 
de  Ocampo,  apud  Quintanilla  y 
Mendoza,  Archetypo  de  Virtudes, 
Espejo  de  Prelados,  el  Venerable 


SIEGE  OF  BAZA. 


77 


The  attachment  to  Isabella  seemed  to  be  a  per-  chapter 

•  XIV 

vading  principle,  which  animated  the  whole  nation  L- 

by  one  common  impulse,  impressing  a  unity  of  de- 
sign on  all  its  movements.  This  attachment  was 
imputable  to  her  sex  as  well  as  character.  The 
sympathy  and  tender  care,  with  which  she  regarded 
her  people,  naturally  raised  a  reciprocal  sentiment 
in  their  bosoms.  But,  when  they  beheld  her  direct- 
ing their  counsels,  sharing  their  fatigues  and  dan- 
gers, and  displaying  all  the  comprehensive  intel- 
lectual powers  of  the  other  sex,  they  looked  up  to 
her  as  to  some  superior  being,  with  feelings  far 


Padre  y  Siervo  do  Dios,  F.  Fran- 
cisco Ximenez  de  Cisneros,  (Pa- 
ermo,  1653,)  Archive,  p. 4.)  This 
account  of  the  precipitate  manner 
in  which  the  epistles  were  com- 
posed, may  help  to  explain  the 
cause  of  the  occasional  inconsist- 
encies and  anachronisms,  that  are 
to  be  found  in  them  ;  and  which 
their  author,  had  he  been  more  pa- 
tient of  the  labor  of  revision,  would 
doubtless  have  corrected.  But  he 
seems  to  have  had  little  relish  for 
this,  even  in  his  more  elaborate 
works,  composed  with  a  view  to 
publication.  (See  his  own  honest 
confessions  in  his  book  "De  Re- 
bus Oceanicis,"  dec.  8,  cap.  8,  9.) 
After  all,  the  errors,  such  as  they 
are,  in  his  Epistles,  may  probably 
be  chiefly  charged  on  the  publisher. 
The  first  edition  appeared  at  Al- 
cala  de  Henares,  in  1530,  about 
four  years  after  the  author's  death. 
It  has  now  become  exceedingly 
rare.  The  second  and  last,  being 
the  one  used  in  the  present  Histo- 
ry, came  out  in  a  more  beautiful 
form  from  the  Elzevir  press,  Am- 
sterdam, in  1G70,  folio.  Of  this 
also  but  a  small  number  of  copies 
were  struck  olf.  The  learned  edi- 
tor takes  much  credit  to  himself 


for  having  purified  the  work  from 
many  errors,  which  had  flowed 
from  the  heedlessness  of  his  pre- 
decessor. It  will  not  be  difficult 
to  detect  several  yet  remaining. 
Such,  for  example,  as  a  memora- 
ble letter  on  the  lues  venerea  (No. 
G8.)  obviously  misplaced,  even  ac- 
cording to  its  own  date  ;  and  that 
numbered  1G8,  in  which  two  let- 
ters are  evidently  blended  into  one. 
But  it  is  unnecessary  to  multiply 
examples.  —  It  is  very  desirable, 
that  an  edition  of  this  valuable  cor- 
respondence should  be  published, 
under  the  care  of  some  one  quali- 
fied to  illustrate  it  by  his  intimacy 
with  the  history  of  the  period,  as 
well  as  to  correct  the  various  inac- 
curacies which  have  crept  into  it, 
whether  through  the  carelessness 
of  the  author  or  of  hh  editors. 

I  have  been  led  into  this  length 
of  remark  by  some  strictures  which 
met  my  eye  in  the  recent  work  of 
Mr.  liallam ;  who  intimates  his 
belief,  that  the  Epistles  of  Martyr, 
instead  of  being  written  at  theii 
respective  dates,  were  produced  by 
him  at  some  later  period  ;  (Intro- 
duction to  the  Literature  of  Eu- 
rope, (London,  1837.)  vol.  i.  pp. 
130-411;)  a  conclusion  which  I 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


more  exalted  than  those  of  mere  loyalty.  The 
chivalrous  heart  of  the  Spaniard  did  homage  to  her, 
as  to  his  tutelar  saint ;  and  she  held  a  control  over 
her  people,  such  as  no  man  could  have  acquired  in 
any  age,  —  and  probably  no  woman,  in  an  age  and 
country  less  romantic. 

suspect  this  acute  and  candid  critic    the  times,  or  weighed  the  unquali- 
would  have  been  slow  to  adopt,    tied  testimony  borne  by  contempo- 
had  he  perused  the  correspondence    raries  to  its  minute  accuracy, 
in  connexion  with  the  history  of 


CHAPTER  XV. 


WAR  OF  GRANADA  SIEGE  AND  SURRENDER  OF  THE  CITY 

OF  GRANADA. 

1490—1492; 

The  Iftfanta  Isabella  affianced  to  the  Prince  of  Portugal.  —  Isabella  de- 
poses Judges  at  Valladolid.  —  Encampment  before  Granada.  —  The 
Queen  surveys  the  City.  — Moslem  and  Christian  Chivalry.  —  Confla- 
gration of  the  Christian  Camp.  —  Erection  of  Santa  Fe.  —  Capitula- 
tion of  Granada.  —  Results  of  the  War.  —  Its  moral  Influence.  —  Its 
military  Influence.  —  Fate  of  the  Moors.  —  Death  and  Character  of 
the  Marquis  of  Cadiz. 

In  the  spring  of  1490,  ambassadors  arrived  from  chapter 

Lisbon  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  into  effect  the   —  

treaty  of  marriage,  which  had  been  arranged  be-  iwbeiia. 
tween  Alonso,  heir  of  the  Portuguese  monarchy, 
and  Isabella,  infanta  of  Castile.  An  alliance  with 
this  kingdom,  which  from  its  contiguity  possessed 
such  ready  means  of  annoyance  to  Castile,  and 
which  had  shown  such  willingness  to  employ  them 
in  enforcing  the  pretensions  of  Joanna  Beltraneja, 
was  an  object  of  importance  to  Ferdinand  and 
Isabella.  No  inferior  consideration  could  have  re- 
conciled the  queen  to  a  separation  from  this  be- 
loved daughter,  her  eldest  child,  whose  gentle 
and  uncommonly  amiable  disposition  seems  to  have 
endeared  her  beyond  their  other  children  to  her 
parents. 


80 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


par r        The  ceremony  of  the  affiancing  took  place  at  Se- 

  ville,  in  the  month  of  April,  Don  Fernando  de  Sil- 

tivitie*.  veira  appearing  as  the  representative  01  the  prince 
of  Portugal ;  and  it  was  followed  by  a  succession 
of  splendid  fetes  and  tourneys.  Lists  were  en- 
closed, at  some  distance  from  the  city  on  the  shores 
of  the  Guadalquivir,  and  surrounded  with  galleries 
hung  with  silk  and  cloth  of  gold,  and  protected 
from  the  noontide  heat  by  canopies  or  awnings, 
richly  embroidered  with  the  armorial  bearings  of 
the  ancient  houses  of  Castile.  The  spectacle  was 
graced  by  all  the  rank  and  beauty  of  the  court, 
with  the  infanta  Isabella  in  the  midst,  attended  by 
seventy  noble  ladies,  and  a  hundred  pages  of  the 
poyal  household.  The  cavaliers  of  Spain,  young 
and  old,  thronged  to  the  tournament,  as  eager  to 
win  laurels  on  the  mimic  theatre  of  war,  in  the 
presence  of  so  brilliant  an  assemblage,  as  they  had 
shown  themselves  in  the  sterner  contests  with  the 
Moors.  King  Ferdinand,  who  broke  several  lances 
on  the  occasion,  was  among  the  most  distinguished 
of  the  combatants  for  personal  dexterity  and  horse- 
manship. The  martial  exercises  of  the  day  were 
relieved  by  the  more  effeminate  recreations  of  danc- 
ing and  music  in  the  evening ;  and  every  one 
seemed  willing  to  welcome  the  season  of  hilarity, 
after  the  long-protracted  fatigues  of  war.1 

In  the  following  autumn,  the  infanta  was  escort- 

1  Carbajal,  Anales,   MS.,  ai7o  cap.  127.  —  La  Clede,  Hist,  de 

*  141)0. — Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catoli-  Portugal,  torn.  iv.  p.  19. — Faria 

cos,  MS.,  cap.  95.  — Zuiliga,  An-  y  Sousa,  Europa  Portuguesa,  torn, 

nales  de  Sevilla,  pp.  404,  405.  —  ii.  p.  452. 
Pulgar,   Reyes  Catolicos,  part.  3, 


SURRENDER  OF  THE  CAPITAL.  81 

ed  into  Portugal  by  the  cardinal  of  Spain,  the  chapter 

grand  master  of  St.  James,  and  a  numerous  and   XV* 

magnificent  retinue.  Her  dowry  exceeded  that 
usually  assigned  to  the  infantas  of  Castile,  by  five 
hundred  marks  of  gold  and  a  thousand  of  silver ; 
and  her  wardrobe  was  estimated  at  one  hundred 
and  twenty  thousand  gold  florins.  The  contempo- 
rary chroniclers  dwell  with  much  complacency  on 
these  evidences  of  the  stateliness  and  splendor  of 
the  Castilian  court.  Unfortunately,  these  fair  aus- 
pices were  destined  to  be  clouded  too  soon  by  the 
death  of  the  prince,  her  husband.2 

No  sooner  had  the  campaign  of  the  preceding  Granaaa 

1      °  1  °  summoned 

year  been  brought  to  a  close,  than  Ferdinand  and  in  vaiD 
Isabella  sent  an  embassy  to  the  king  of  Granada, 
requiring  a  surrender  of  his  capital,  conformably  to 
his  stipulations  at  Loja,  which  guarantied  this,  on 
the  capitulation  of  Baza,  Almeria,  and  Guadix. 
That  time  had  now  arrived  ;  King  Abdallah,  how- 
ever, excused  himself  from  obeying  the  summons 
of  the  Spanish  sovereigns,  replying  that  he  was  no 
longer  his  own  master,  and  that,  although  he  had 
all  the  inclination  to  keep  his  engagements,  he 
was  prevented  by  the  inhabitants  of  the  city,  now 
swollen  much  beyond  its  natural  population,  who 
resolutely  insisted  on  its  defence. 8 


2  Faria  y  Sousa,  Europa  Portu- 
gesa,  torn.  ii.  p.  452-456.  —  Flo- 
rez,  Reynas  Catholicas,  p.  845.  — 
Pulgar,  Reyes  Catolicos,  cap.  129. 
—  Oviedo,  Quincuagenas,  MS.,  bat. 
I,  quinc.  2,  dial.  3. 

3  Conde,  Domination  de  los  Ara- 
bes,  torn.  iii.  cap.  41. —  Bernal- 

VOL.  II.  11 


dez,  Reyes  Catolicos,  MS.,  cap. 
90. 

Neither  the  Arabic  nor  Castilian 
authorities  impeach  the  justice  of 
the  summons  made  by  the  Spanish 
sovereigns.  I  do  not,  however, 
find  any  other  foundation  for  the 
obligation  imputed  to  Abdallah  in 


82 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


part        It  is  not  probable  that  the  Moorish  king  did  any 

 great  violenee  to  his  feelings,  in  this  evasion  of  a 

promise  extorted  from  him  in  captivity.  At  le*ast, 
it  would  seem  so  from  the  hostile  movements 
which  immediately  succeeded.  The  people  of 
Granada  resumed  all  at  once  their  ancient  activity, 
foraying  into  the  Christian  territories,  surprising 
Alhendin  and  some  other  places  of  less  importance, 
and  stirring  up  the  spirit  of  revolt  in  Guadix  and 
other  conquered  cities.  Granada,  which  had  slept 
through  the  heat  of  the  struggle,  seemed  to  revive 
at  the  very  moment  when  exertion  became  hope- 
less. 

Ferdinand  was  not  slowr  in  retaliating  these  acts 
of  aggression.  In  the  spring  of  1490,  he  marched 
with  a  strong  force  into  the  cultivated  plain  of  Gra- 
nada, sweeping  off,  as  usual,  the  crops  and  cattle, 
and  rolling  the  tide  of  devastation  up  to  the  very 

ofDon  Juan  wa^s  °f  tne  cltJ'  ^n  tms  campaign  he  conferred 
the  honor  of  knighthood  on  his  son,  prince  John, 
then  only  twelve  years  of  age,  whom  he  had 
brought  with  him,  after  the  ancient  usage  of  the 
Castilian  nobles,  of  training  up  their  children  from 
very  tender  years  in  the  Moorish  wars.  The  cere- 
mony was  performed  on  the  banks  of  the  grand 
canal  under  the  battlements  almost  of  the  be- 
leaguered city.  The  dukes  of  Cadiz  and  Medina 
Sidonia  were  prince  John's  sponsors;  and,  after  the 

them,  than  that  monarch's  agree-  the   latter   should  be  conquered 

ment  during  his  captivity  at  Loja,  within  six  months.    Pulgar,  Reyes 

in  1486,  to  surrender  his  capital  Catolicos,    p.    275.  —  Garibay, 

in  exchange  for  Guadix,  provided  Compendio,  torn.  iv.  p.  418. 


SURRENDER  OF  THE  CAPITAL. 


83 


completion  of  the  ceremony,  the  new  knight  con-  chapter 
ferred  the  honors  of  chivalry  in  like  manner  on  xv' 
several  of  his  young  companions  in  arms.  4 

In  the  following  autumn,  Ferdinand  repeated  his  Ferdinands 

&  7  r  policy. 

ravages  in  the  vega,  and,  at  the  same  time  appear- 
ing before  the  disaffected  city  of  Guadix  with  a 
force  large  enough  to  awe  it  into  submission,  pro- 
posed an  immediate  investigation  of  the  conspiracy 
He  promised  to  inflict  summary  justice  on  all  who 
had  been  in  any  degree  concerned  in  it ;  at  the 
same  time  offering  permission  to  the  inhabitants,  in 
the  abundance  of  his  clemency,  to  depart  with  all 
their  personal  effects  wherever  they  would,  provid- 
ed they  should  prefer  this  to  a  judicial  investiga- 
tion of  their  conduct.  This  politic  proffer  had  its 
effect.  There  were  few,  if  any  of  the  citizens, 
who  had  not  been  either  directly  concerned  in  the 
conspiracy,  or  privy  to  it.  With  one  accord,  there- 
fore, they  preferred  exile  to  trusting  to  the  tender 
mercies  of  their  judges.  In  this  way,  says  the 
Curate  of  Los  Palacios,  by  the  mystery  of  our 
Lord,  was  the  ancient  city  of  Guadix  brought  again 
within  the  Christian  fold  ;  the  mosque*  converted 
into  Christian  temples,  filled  with  the  harmonies  of 
Catholic  worship,  and  the  pleasant  places,  which 
for  nearly  eight  centuries  had  been  trampled  undei 
the  foot  of  the  infidel,  were  once  more  restored  to 
the  followers  of  the  Cross. 

A  similar  policy  produced  similar  results  in  the 

4  L.  Marineo,  Cosas  Memora-  les,  torn.  iv.  cap.  85.  —  Cardonne, 
bles,  fol.  176.  —  Pulgar,  Reyes  Hist.  d'Afrique  et  d'Espagne,  tom. 
Catolicos,  cap.  130.  —  Zurita,  Ana-    iii.  p.  309. 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


part  cities  of  Almeria  and  Baza,  whose  inhabitants,  evac- 
, — h. —  uating  their  ancient  homes,  transported  themselves, 
with  such  personal  effects  as  they  could  carry,  to 
the  city  of  Granada,  or  the  coast  of  Africa.  The 
space  thus  opened  by  the  fugitive  population  was 
quickly  filled  by  the  rushing  tide  of  Spaniards. 5 

It  is  impossible  at  this  day,  to  contemplate  these 
events  with  the  triumphant  swell  of  exultation, 
with  which  they  are  recorded  by  contemporary 
chroniclers.  That  the  Moors  were  guilty  (though 
not  so  generally  as  pretended)  of  the  alleged  con- 
spiracy, is  not  in  itself  improbable,  and  is  corrobo- 
rated indeed  by  the  Arabic  statements.  But  the 
punishment  was  altogether  disproportionate  to  the 
offence.  Justice  might  surely  have  been  satisfied 
by  a  selection  of  the  authors  and  principal  agents 
of  the  meditated  insurrection  ;  —  for  no  overt  act 
appears  to  have  occurred.  But  avarice  was  too 
strong  for  justice  ;  and  this  act,  which  is  in  perfect 
conformity  to  the  policy  systematically  pursued  by 
the  Spanish  crown  for  more  than  a  century  after- 
wards, may  be  considered  as  one  of  the  first  links 
in  the  long  chain  of  persecution,  which  terminated 
in  the  expulsion  of  the  Moriscoes. 
Isabella         During;  the  following;  year,  1491,  a  circumstance 

.'eposes  the  &  &   J        1  ' 

Sery  occurred  illustrative  of  the  policy  of  the  present 
government  in  reference  to  ecclesiastical  matters. 
The  chancery  of  Valladolid  having  appealed  to  the 

5  Pulgar,  Reyes  Catolicos,  cap.  Epist.,  lib.  3,  epist.  84. — Garibay, 

131,  132.  —  Bernaldez,  Reyes  Ca-  Compendio,  torn.  iv.  p.  424.  —  Oar- 

tolieos,  MS.,  cap.  97.  —  Conde,  donne,  Hist.  d'Afrique  et  d!Es- 

Dominacion  de  los  Arabes,  torn,  pagne,  torn.  iii.  pp.  309,  310. 
Hi.  cap.  41.  —  Peter  Martyr,  Op  .is 


SURRENDER  OF  THE  CAPITAL. 


8,3 


pope  in  a  case  coming  within  its  own  exclusive  chapter 
jurisdiction,  the  queen  commanded  Alonso  de  Val-  xv 
divieso,  bishop  of  Leon,  the  president  of  the  court, 
together  with  all  the  auditors,  to  be  removed  from 
their  respective  offices,  which  she  delivered  to  a 
new  board,  having  the  bishop  of  Oviedo  at  its  head. 
This  is  one  among  many  examples  of  the  con- 
stancy with  which  Isabella,  notwithstanding  her 
reverence  for  religion,  and  respect  for  its  ministers, 
refused  to  compromise  the  national  independence 
by  recognising  in  any  degree  the  usurpations  of 
Rome.    From  this  dignified  attitude,  so  often  aban- 
doned by  her  successors,  she  never  swerved  for  a 
moment  during  the  course  of  her  long  reign.6 

The  winter  of  1490  was  busily  occupied  with  Ferdinand 

J  1  musters  his 

preparations  for  the  closing  campaign  against  Gran-  forces- 
ada.  Ferdinand  took  command  of  the  army  in  the 
month  of  April,  1491,  with  the  purpose  of  sitting  149 1. 
down  before  the  Moorish  capital,  not  to  rise  until 
its  final  surrender.  The  troops,  which  mustered  in 
the  Val  de  Velillos,  are  computed  by  most  his- 
torians at  fifty  thousand  horse  and  foot,  although 
Martyr,  who  served  as  a  volunteer,  swells  the  num- 
ber to  eighty  thousand.  They  were  drawn  from 
the  different  cities,  chiefly,  as  usual,  from  Andalusia, 
which  had  been  stimulated  to  truly  gigantic  efTorts 
throughout  this  protracted  war,7  and  from  the  nobil- 
ity of  every  quarter,  many  of  whom,  wearied  out 

6  Carbajal,  Anales,  MS.,  afio  horse,  who  were  recruited  by  fresh 
1191.  reinforcements  no  less  than  five 

7  According  to  Zufiiga,  the  quota  times  during  the  campaign.  An- 
furnished  by  Seville  this  season  nales  de  Sevilla,  p.  406.— See  also 
amounted  to  6,000  foot  and  500  Col.  de  Cedulas,  torn.  hi.  no.  3. 


86 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


tart  with  the  contest,  contented  themselves  with  send- 
-  ing  their  quotas,  while  many  others,  as  the  mar- 
quises of  Cadiz,  Villena,  the  counts  of  Tendilla, 
Cabra,  Urena,  and  Alonso  de  Aguilar,  appeared  in 
person,  eager,  as  they  had  borne  the  brunt  of  so 
many  hard  campaigns,  to  share  in  the  closing  scene 
of  triumph. 

Encamps  m      Qn  the  26th  of  the  month,  the  army  encamped 

Die  vega.  »  J  A 

near  the  fountain  of  Ojos  de  Huescar,  in  the  vega, 
about  two  leagues  distant  from  Granada.  Ferdi- 
nand's first  movement  was  to  detach  a  considerable 
force,  under  the  marquis  of  Villena,  which  he  sub- 
sequently supported  in  person  with  the  remainder 
of  the  army,  for  the  purpose  of  scouring  the  fruit- 
ful regions  of  the  Alpuxarras,  which  served  as  the 
granary  of  the  capital.  This  service  was  performed 
with  such  unsparing  rigor,  that  no  less  than  twenty- 
four  towns  and  hamlets  in  the  mountains  were 
ransacked,  and  razed  to  the  ground.  After  this, 
Ferdinand  returned  loaded  with  spoil  to  his  former 
position  on  the  banks  of  the  Xenil,  in  full  view  of 
the  Moorish  metropolis,  which  seemed  to  stand 
alone,  like  some  sturdy  oak,  the  last  of  the  forest, 
bidding  defiance  to  the  storm  which  had  prostrated 
all  its  brethren, 
potior,  of      Notwithstanding;  the  failure  of  all  external  re- 

firanada.  0 

sources,  Granada  was  still  formidable  from  its  local 
position  and  its  defences.  On  the  east  it  was 
fenced  in  by  a  wild  mountain  barrier,  the  Sierra 
Nevada,  whose  snow-clad  summits  diffused  a  grate- 
ful coolness  over  the  city  through  the  sultry  heats 
of  summer.    The  side  towards  the  vega,  facing  the 


SURRENDER  OF  THE  CAPITAL. 


87 


Christian  encampment,  was  encircled  by  walls  and  chapter 

X  V 

towers  of  massive  strength  and  solidity.    The  pop-   ! — . 

ulation,  swelled  to  two  hundred  thousand  by  the 
immigration  from  the  surrounding  country,  was 
likely,  indeed,  to  be  a  burden  in  a  protracted 
siege  ;  but  among  them  were  twenty  thousand,  the 
flower  of  the  Moslem  chivalry,  who  had  escaped 
the  edge  of  the  Christian  sword.  In  front  of  the 
city,  for  an  extent  of  nearly  ten  leagues,  lay  un- 
rolled, the  magnificent  vega, 

"  Fresca  y  regalada  vega, 
Dulce  recreacion  de  damas 
Y  de  hombres  gloria  immensa ;  " 

whose  prolific  beauties  could  scarcely  be  exagger- 
ated in  the  most  florid  strains  of  the  Arabian 
minstrel,  and  which  still  bloomed  luxuriant,  not- 
withstanding the  repeated  ravages  of  the  preceding 
season. 8 

The  inhabitants  of  Granada  were  filled  with  in-  Moslem  ami 

Christian 

dignation  at  the  sight  of  their  enemy,  thus  en-  chivalry- 
camped  under  the  shadow,  as  it  were,  of  their 
battlements.    They  sallied  forth  in  small  bodies, 
or  singly,  challenging  the  Spaniards  to  equal  en- 

8  Conde,  Dominacion de  los  Ara-  wealth,  population,  and  social  hab- 

bes,  torn.  iii.  cap.  42. —  Bernal-  its  of  Granada,  from  various  Ara- 

dfz,  Reyes  Catolicos,  MS.,  cap.  bic  authorities.     Bibliotheca  Es- 

100. — Peter  Martyr,  Opus  Epist.,  curialensis,  torn.  ii.  pp.  247-  260. 

lib.  3,  epist.  89.  —  Marmol,  Rebe-  The  French  work  of  Laborde, 

lion  de  Moriscos,  lib.  1,  cap.  18.  Voyage  Pittoresque,  (Paris,  1807,) 

—  L.  Marineo,  Cosas  Memorables,  and  the  English  one  of  Murphy, 

fol.  177.  Engravings  of  Arabian  Antiqui- 

Martyr  remarks,  that  the  Geno-  ties  of  Spain,  (London,  1816,)  do 

ese  merchants,  "  voyagers  to  eve-  ample  justice  in  their  finished  de- 

ry  clime,  declare  this  to  be  the  signs    to  the  general  topography 

largest  fortified  city  in  the  world."  and  architectural  magnificence  of 

Casiri  has  collected  a  body  of  in-  Granada, 
teresting  particulars  respecting  the 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


counter.  Numerous  were  the  combats  which  took 
place  between  the  high-mettled  cavaliers  on  both 
sides,  who  met  on  the  level  arena,  as  on  a  tilting* 
ground,  where  they  might  display  their  prowess  in 
the  presence  of  the  assembled  beauty  and  chivalry 
of  their  respective  nations  ;  for  the  Spanish  camp 
was  graced,  as  usual,  by  the  presence  of  queen  Isa- 
bella and  the  infantas,  with  the  courtly  train  of 
ladies,  who  had  accompanied  their  royal  mistress 
from  Aleala  la  Real.  The  Spanish  ballads  glow 
writh  picturesque  details  of  these  knightly  tourneys, 
forming  the  most  attractive  portion  of  this  romantic 
minstrelsy,  which,  celebrating  the  prowess  of  Mos- 
lem, as  well  as  Christian  warriors,  sheds  a  dying 
glory  round  the  last  hours  of  Granada. 9 

The  festivity,  which  reigned  throughout  the  camp 
on  the  arrival  of  Isabella,  did  not  divert  her  atten- 
tion from  the  stern  business  of  war.  She  superin- 
tended the  military  preparations,  and  personally 
inspected  every  part  of  the  encampment.  She  ap- 
peared on  the  field  superbly  mounted,  and  dressed 
in  complete  armour  ;  and,  as  she  visited  the  differ- 
ent quarters  and  reviewed  her  troops,  she  adminis- 


9  On  one  occasion,  a  Christian 
knight  having  discomfited  with  a 
handful  of  men  a  much  superior 
body  of  Moslem  chivalry,  King 
Abdallah  testified  his  admiration 
of  his  prowess  by  sending  him  on 
the  following  day  a  magnificent 
present,  together  with  his  own 
sword  superbly  mounted.  (Mem. 
de  la  Acad,  de  Hist.,  torn.  vi.  p. 
178.)  The  Moorish  ballad  begin- 
ning 

"  Al  Rey  Chico  de  Granada," 


describes  the  panic  occasioned  in 
the  city  by  the  Christian  encamp- 
ment on  the  Xenil. 

"  Por  ese  fresco  Genii 
un  campo  viene  marchando, 
todo  de  lucida  gente, 
las  armas  van  relumbrando. 

"Las  vanderas  traen  tendidna, 
y  un  estandarte  dorado; 
el  General  de  esta  gente 
es  el  invicto  Fernando. 
Y  tanihien  viene  la  Ueynn, 
Mnger  del  Rey  don  Fernando, 
la  qual  tiene  lanto  esfuerzo 
que  anitna  a  qualquier  soldado  " 


SURRENDER  OF  THE  CAPITAL. 


89 


tered  words  of  commendation  or  sympathy,  suited  chapter 
to  the  condition  of  the  soldier. 10  XVt 
On  one  occasion,  she  expressed  a  desire  to  take  The  queen 

'  a  surveys  the 

a  nearer  survey  of  the  city.  For  this  purpose,  a  city' 
house  was  selected,  affording  the  best  point  of 
view,  in  the  little  village  of  Zubia,  at  no  great  dis- 
tance from  Granada.  The  king  and  queen  station- 
ed themselves  before  a  window,  which  commanded 
an  unbroken  prospect  of  the  Alhambra,  and  the 
most  beautiful  quarter  of  the  town.  In  the  mean 
while,  a  considerable  force,  under  the  marquis  duke 
of  Cadiz,  had  been  ordered,  for  the  protection  of 
the  royal  persons,  to  take  up  a  position  between 
the  village  and  the  city  of  Granada,  with  strict  in- 
junctions on  no  account  to  engage  the  enemy,  as 
Isabella  was  unwilling  to  stain  the  pleasures  of  the 
day  with  unnecessary  effusion  of  blood. 

The  people  of  Granada,  however,  were  too  im-  suirm^h 

r      r  7  7  with  the 

patient  long  to  endure  the  presence,  and  as  they  eilemy- 
deemed  it,  the  bravado  of  their  enemy.  They 
burst  forth  from  the  gates  of  the  capital,  dragging 
along  with  them  several  pieces  of  ordnance,  and 
commenced  a  brisk  assault  on  the  Spanish  lines. 
The  latter  sustained  the  shock  with  firmness,  till 
the  marquis  of  Cadiz,  seeing  them  thrown  into 
some  disorder,  found  it  necessary  to  assume  the  of- 
fensive, and,  mustering  his  followers  around  him, 
made  one  of  those  desperate  charges,  which  had  so 
often  broken  the  enemy.  The  Moorish  cavalry  fal- 
tered ;  but  might  have  disputed  the  ground,  had  it 


10  Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catolicos,  MS.,  cap.  101. 
VOT,.  11.  12 


DO 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


Christian 
camp. 


part  not  been  for  the  infantry,  which,  composed  of  the 
„:_.  rabble  population  of  the  city,  was  easily  thrown 
into  confusion,  and  hurried  the  horse  along  with 
it.  The  rout  now  became  general.  The  Span- 
ish cavaliers,  whose  blood  was  up,  pursued  to  the 
very  gates  of  Granada,  "  and  not  a  lance,"'  says 
Bernaldez,  "  that  day,  but  was  dyed  in  the  blood 
of  the  infidel."  Two  thousand  of  the  enemy  were 
slain  and  taken  in  the  engagement,  which  lasted 
only  a  short  time  ;  and  the  slaughter  was  stopped 
only  by  the  escape  of  the  fugitives  within  the  walls 
of  the  city.11 

^(Srihe  About  the  middle  of  July,  an  accident  occurred 
in  the  camp,  which  had  like  to  have  been  attended 
with  fatal  consequences.  The  queen  was  lodged 
in  a  superb  pavilion,  belonging  to  the  marquis  of 
Cadiz,  and  always  used  by  him  in  the  Moorish  war. 
By  the  carelessness  of  one  of  her  attendants,  a 
lamp  was  placed  in  such  a  situation,  that  during  the 
night,  perhaps  owing  to  a  gust  of  wind,  it  set  fire 
to  the  drapery  or  loose  hangings  of  the  pavilion, 
which  was  instantly  in  a  blaze.  The  flame  com- 
municated with  fearful  rapidity  to  the  neighbouring 
tents,  made  of  light,  combustible  materials,  and  the 
camp  was  menaced  with  general  conflagration. 
This  occurred  at  the  dead  of  night,  when  all  but 

11  Bernaldez,  Feyes  Catolicos,  Franciscan  monastery  to  be  built 

MS.,  cap.  101.  —  Conde,  Domina-  in  commemoration  of  this  event  at 

cion  de  los  Arabes,  torn.  iii.  cap.  Zubia,  where,  according  to  Mr. 

42.  —  Peter  Martyr,  Opus  Epist.,  Irving,  the  house  from  which  she 

lib.  4,  epist.  90.  —  Pulgar,  Reyes  witnessed  the  action  is  to  be  seen 

Catolicos,  cap.  133.  — Zurita,  Ana-  at  the  present  day.    See  Conquest 

les.  torn.  iv.  cap.  88.  of  Granada,  chap.  90,  note. 
Isabella   afterwards    caused  a 


SURRENDER  OF  THE  CAPITAL.  91 

the  sentinels  were  buried  in  sleep.    The  queen,  chapter 

and  her  children,  whose  apartments  were  near   U  

hers,  were  in  great  peril,  and  escaped  with  difficul- 
ty, though  fortunately  without  injury.  The  alarm 
soon  spread.  The  trumpets  sounded  to  arms,  for  it 
was  supposed  to  be  some  night  attack  of  the  ene- 
my. Ferdinand  snatching  up  his  arms  hastily,  put 
himself  at  the  head  of  his  troops  ;  but,  soon  as- 
certaining the  nature  of  the  disaster,  contented 
himself  with  posting  the  marquis  of  Cadiz,  with  a 
strong  body  of  horse,  over  against  the  city,  in  order 
to  repel  any  sally  from  that  quarter.  None,  how- 
ever, was  attempted,  and  the  fire  was  at  length  ex- 
tinguished without  personal  injury,  though  not 
without  loss  of  much  valuable  property,  in  jewels, 
plate,  brocade,  and  other  costly  decorations  of  the 
tents  of  the  nobility.  12 

In  order  to  guard  against  a  similar  disaster,  as 
well  as  to  provide  comfortable  winter  quarters  for 
the  army,  should  the  siege  be  so  long  protracted  as 
to  require  it,  it  was  resolved  to  build  a  town  of  sub- 
stantial edifices  on  the  place  of  the  present  en- 
campment. The  plan  was  immediately  put  in 
execution.  The  work  was  distributed  in  due  pro- 
portions among  the  troops  of  the  several  cities  and 
of  the  great  nobility  ;  the  soldier  was  on  a  sudden 
converted  into  an  artisan,  and,  instead  of  war,  the 
camp  echoed  with  the  sounds  of  peaceful  labor. 

l2  Peter  Martyr,  Opus  Epist.,  lib.  Bleda,  Coronica,  p.  619.  —  Mar- 

4,  epist.  91. —  Bernaldez,  Reyes  mol,  Rebelion  de  Moriscos,  lib.  1, 

Catolicos,  MS.,  cap.  101.  —  Gari-  cap.  18. 
bay,  Compendio,  torn.  ii.  p.  673. — 


92 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


part        In  less  than  three  months,  this  stupendous  task 

 —  was  accomplished.    The  spot  so  recently  occupied 

BuuaFe.  by  light,  fluttering  pavilions,  was  thickly  covered 
with  solid  structures  of  stone  and  mortar,  com- 
prehending, besides  dwellinghouses,  stables  for  a 
thousand  horses.  The  town  was  thrown  into  a 
quadrangular  form,  traversed  by  two  spacious  aven- 
ues, intersecting  each  other  at  right  angles  in  the 
centre,  in  the  form  of  a  cross,  with  stately  portals 
at  each  of  the  four  extremities.  Inscriptions  on 
blocks  of  marble  in  the  various  quarters,  recorded 
the  respective  shares  of  the  several  cities  in  the 
execution  of  the  work.  When  it  was  completed, 
the  whole  army  was  desirous  that  the  new  city 
should  bear  the  name  of  their  illustrious  queen  ; 
but  Isabella  modestly  declined  this  tribute,  and 
bestowed  on  the  place  the  title  of  Santa  Fe,  in 
token  of  the  unshaken  trust,  manifested  by  her 
people  throughout  this  war,  in  Divine  Providence. 
With  this  name  it  still  stands  as  it  was  erected  in 
1491,  a  monument  of  the  constancy  and  enduring 
patience  of  the  Spaniards,  "  the  only  city  in 
Spain,"  in  the  words  of  a  Castilian  writer,  "  that 
has  never  been  contaminated  by  the  Moslem  her- 
esy. "  13 

[i?J2£J£M      The  erection  of  Santa  Fe  by  the  Spaniards  struck 


dt-r. 


13  Estrada,  Poblacion  de  Espafia,  gives  one  commemorating  the  ere<v 

torn.  ii.  pp-  314,  348.  —  Peter  Mar-  tion  of  Santa  Fe. 
tyr  Opus  Epist    lib.  4,  epist.  91.        tlCercada  esta  gamaFe 
—  Marmol,  Kebelion  de  Monscos,  Con  mucho  lienzo  encerado 

lib    1   cap    18.  a'  rededor  muchas  tiendas 

Hyta,  who  embellishes  his  florid  y  Co„dM> 

prose  with  occasional  extracts  from  Seiiores  de  gran  estado,"  <fcc. 

the  beautiful  ballad  poetry  of  Spain,  Gnerras  de  Granada,  p.  515. 


SURRENDER  OF  THE  CAPITAL. 


93 


a  greater  damp  into  the  people  of  Granada,  than  chapter 

the  most  successful  military  achievement  could  have   '  

done.  They  beheld  the  enemy  setting  foot  on 
their  soil,  with  a  resolution  never  more  to  resign 
it.  They  already  began  to  suffer  from  the  rigorous 
blockade,  which  effectually  excluded  supplies  from 
their  own  territories,  while  all  communication  with 
Africa  was  jealously  intercepted.  Symptoms  of  in- 
subordination had  begun  to  show  themselves  among 
the  overgrown  population  of  the  city,  as  it  felt  more 
and  more  the  pressure  of  famine.  In  this  crisis, 
the  unfortunate  Abdallah  and  his  principal  counsel- 
lors became  convinced,  that  the  place  could  not  be 
maintained  much  longer ;  and  at  length,  in  the 
month  of  October,  propositions  were  made  through 
the  vizier  Abul  Cazim  Abdelmalic,  to  open  a  nego- 
tiation for  the  surrender  of  the  place.  The  affair 
was  to  be  conducted  with  the  utmost  caution  ; 
since  the  people  of  Granada,  notwithstanding  their 
precarious  condition,  and  their  disquietude,  were 
buoyed  up  by  indefinite  expectations  of  relief  from 
Africa,  or  some  other  quarter. 

The  Spanish  sovereigns  intrusted  the  negotiation 
to  their  secretary  Fernando  de  Zafra,  and  to  Gon- 
salvo  de  Cordova,  the  latter  of  whom  was  selected 
for  this  delicate  business,  from  his  uncommon  ad- 
dress, and  his  familiarity  with  the  Moorish  habits 
and  language.  Thus  the  capitulation  of  Granada 
was  referred  to  the  man,  who  acquired  in  her  long 
wars  the  military  science,  which  enabled  him,  at  a 
later  period,  to  foil  the  most  distinguished  generals 
of  Europe. 


94 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


part        The  conferences  were  conducted  by  night  with 

- —        the  utmost  secrecy,  sometimes  within  the  walls  of 

Granada,  and  at  others,  in  the  little  hamlet  of  Chur- 
riana,  about  a  league  distant  from  it.  At  length, 
after  large  discussion  on  both  sides,  the  terms  of 
capitulation  were  definitively  settled,  and  ratified 
by  the  respective  monarchs  on  the  25th  of  Novem- 
ber, 1491. 14 

capitulation      The  conditions  were  of  similar,  though  somewhat 

Granada.  7  © 

more  liberal  import,  than  those  granted  to  Baza. 
The  inhabitants  of  Granada  were  to  retain  posses- 
sion of  their  mosques,  wdth  the  free  exercise  of 
their  religion,  with  all  its  peculiar  rites  and  cere- 
monies ;  they  were  to  be  judged  by  their  own  laws, 
under  their  own  cadis  or  magistrates,  subject  to 
the  general  control  of  the  Castilian  governor ;  they 
were  to  be  unmolested  in  their  ancient  usages, 
manners,  language,  and  dress ;  to  be  protected  in 
the  full  enjoyment  of  their  property,  with  the  right 
of  disposing  of  it  on  their  own  account,  and  of 
migrating  when  and  where  they  would  ;  and  to  be 
furnished  with  vessels  for  the  conveyance  of  such 
as  chose  within  three  years  to  pass  into  Africa. 
No  heavier  taxes  were  to  be  imposed  than  those 
customarily  paid  to  their  Arabian  sovereigns,  and 

14  Pedraza,  Antiguedad  de  Gra-  178.  —  Marmol,  however,  assigns 

nada,  fol.  74.  —  Giovio,  De  Vita  the  date  in  the  text  to  a  separate 

Gonsalvi,  apud  Vitae  Ulust.  Viro-  capitulation  respecting  Abdallah, 

rum,  pp.  211,  212.  —  Salazar  de  dating  that  made  in  behalf  of  the 

Mendoza,  Cron.  del  Gran  Cardenal,  city  three  days  later.  (Rebelion  de 

p.  236.  —  Cardonne,  Hist.  d'Af-  Moriscos,  lib.  1,  cap.  19.)  This 

rique  et  d'Espagne,  torn.  iii.  pp.  author  has  given  the  articles  of  the 

316,317.  —  Conde,  Dominacion  de  treaty  with  greater  fulness  and 

los  Arabes,  torn.  iii.  cap.  42.  —  L.  precision  than  any  other  Spanish 

Marineo,  Cosas  Memorables,  fol.  historian. 


SURRENDER  OF  THE  CAPITAL. 


95 


none  whatever  before  the  expiration  of  three  years,  chapter 

King  Abdallah  was  to  reign  over  a  specified  ter-   L 

ritory  in  the  Alpuxarras,  for  which  he  was  to  do 
homage  to  the  Castilian  crown.  The  artillery  and 
the  fortifications  were  to  be  delivered  into  the 
hands  of  the  Christians,  and  the  city  was  to  be  sur- 
rendered in  sixty  days  from  the  date  of  the  capitu- 
lation. Such  were  the  principal  terms  of  the  sur- 
render of  Granada,  as  authenticated  by  the  most 
accredited  Castilian  and  Arabian  authorities  ;  which 
I  have  stated  the  more  precisely,  as  affording  the 
best  data  for  estimating  the  extent  of  Spanish  per- 
fidy in  later  times.15 

The  conferences  could    not  be    conducted    SO  Commutiore 

(  inGranarln. 

secretly,  but  that  some  report  of  them  got  air 
among  the  populace  of  the  city,  who  now  regarded 
Abdallah  with  an  evil  eye  for  his  connexion  with 
the  Christians.  When  the  fact  of  the  capitulation 
became  known,  the  agitation  speedily  mounted  into 
an  open  insurrection,  which  menaced  the  safety  of 
the  city,  as  well  as  of  Abdallah's  person.  In  this 
alarming  state  of  things,  it  was  thought  best  by 
that  monarch's  counsellors,  to  anticipate  the  ap- 


15  Marmol,  Rebclion  de  Moris- 
cos,  lib.  1,  cap.  19.  —  Conde,  Do- 
minacion  de  los  Arabes,  torn.  iii. 
cap.  42.  —  Zurita,  Anales,  torn.  ii. 
cap.  90.  —  Cardonne,  Hist.  d'Af- 
rique  et  d'Espagne,  torn.  iii.  pp. 
317,  318.  —  Oviedo,  Quincuagenas, 
MS.,  bat.  1,  quinc.  1,  dial.  28. 

Martyr  adds,  that  the  principal 
Moorish  nobility  were  to  remove 
from  the  city.  (Opus  Epist. ,  lib.  4, 
epist.  92.)  Pedraza,  who  has  de- 
voted a  volume  to  the  history  of 


Granada,  does  not  seem  to  think 
the  capitulations  worth  specifying. 
Most  of  the  modern  Castilians  pass 
very  lightly  over  them.  They  fur- 
nish too  bitter  a  comment  on  the 
conduct  of  subsequent  Spanish 
monarchs.  Marmol  and  the  judi- 
cious Zurita  agree  in  every  substan- 
tial particular  with  Conde,  and  this 
coincidence  may  be  considered  as 
establishing  the  actual  terms  of  the 
treaty. 


96 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


part     pointed  day  of  surrender  ;  and  the  2d  of  January, 

 —  1492,  was  accordingly  fixed  on  for  that  purpose. 

preparations      Every  preparation  was  made  by  the  Spaniards 

for  occupy-  J     \       l  J  i 

ing  the  city.  for  performing  this  last  act  of  the  drama  with  suit- 
able pomp  and  effect.  The  mourning  which  the 
court  had  put  on  for  the  death  of  Prince  Alonso  of 
Portugal,  occasioned  by  a  fall  from  his  horse  a  few 
months  after  his  marriage  with  the  infanta  Isabella, 
was  exchanged  for  gay  and  magnificent  apparel. 
1102.  On  the  morning  of  the  2d,  the  whole  Christian 
Jan'  2'  camp  exhibited  a  scene  of  the  most  animating 
bustle.  The  grand  cardinal  Mendoza  was  sent 
forward  at  the  head  of  a  large  detachment,  com- 
prehending his  household  troops,  and  the  veteran 
infantry  grown  grey  in  the  Moorish  wars,  to  occupy 
the  Alhambra  preparatory  to  the  entrance  of  the 
sovereigns. 16  Ferdinand  stationed  himself  at  some 
distance  in  the  rear,  near  an  Arabian  mosque,  since 
consecrated  as  the  hermitage  of  St.  Sebastian.  He 
was  surrounded  by  his  courtiers,  with  their  stately 
retinues,  glittering  in  gorgeous  panoply,  and  proud- 
ly displaying  the  armorial  bearings  of  their  ancient 
houses.  The  queen  halted  still  farther  in  the  rear, 
at  the  village  of  Armilla. 17 

!6  Oviedo,  whose  narrative  ex-  weight  with  that  of  persons,  who, 

hibits  many  discrepancies  with  those  like  Martyr,  described  events  as 

of   other  contemporaries,  assigns  they  were  passing  before  them, 

this  part  to  the  count  of  Tendilla,  17  Pedraza,  Antiguedad  de  Gra- 

the  first  captain-general  of  Gra-  nada,  fol.  75. —  Salazar  de  Men- 

nada.    (Quincuagenas,  MS.,  bat.  doza,  Cron.  del  Gran  Cardenal,  p. 

],  quinc.  1,  dial.  28.)  But,  as  this  238. —  Zurita,  Anales,  torn.  iv. 

writer,  though  an  eyewitness,  was  cap.  90.  —  Peter  Martyr,  Opus 

but  thirteen  or  fourteen  years  of  Epist.,  lib.  4,  epist.  92.  —  Abarca, 

age  at  the  time  of  the  capture,  and  Reyes  de  Aragon,  torn,  ii  fol.  309. 

wrote  some  sixty  years  later  from  —  Marmol,  Ilebelion  de  Moriscos, 

his  early  recollections,  his  authori-  lib.  l,cap.  20. 
ty  cannot  be  considered  of  equal 


SURRENDER  OF  THE  CAPITAL. 


97 


As  the  column  under  the  "rand  cardinal  advanced  chapter 

.  xv 
up  the  Hill  of  Martyrs,  over  which  a  road  had  been  ■ — 

constructed  for  the  passage  of  the  artillery,  he  was 
met  by  the  Moorish  prince  Abdallah,  attended  by 
fifty  cavaliers,  who  descending  the  hill  rode  up  to 
the  position  occupied  by  Ferdinand  on  the  banks 
of  the  Xenil.  As  the  Moor  approached  the  Span- 
ish king,  he  would  have  thrown  himself  from  his 
horse,  and  saluted  his  hand  in  token  of  homage, 
but  Ferdinand  hastily  prevented  him,  embracing 
him  with  every  mark  of  sympathy  and  regard. 
Abdallah  then  delivered  up  the  keys  of  the  Alham- 
bra  to  his  conqueror  saying,  "  They  are  thine,  O 
king,  since  Allah  so  decrees  it ;  use  thy  success 
with  clemency  and  moderation."  Ferdinand  would 
have  uttered  some  words  of  consolation  to  the  un- 
fortunate prince,  but  he  moved  forward  with  de- 
jected air  to  the  spot  occupied  by  Isabella,  and, 
after  similar  acts  of  obeisance,  passed  on  to  join  his 
family,  who  had  preceded  him  with  his  most  valu- 
able effects  on  the  route  to  the  Alpuxarras. 18 

The  sovereigns  during  this  time  waited  with  im-  Thecro* 

°  °  raised  on 

patience  the  signal  of  the  occupation  of  the  city  by  SS.Alham" 

the  cardinal's  troops,  which,  winding  slowly  along 

the  outer  circuit  of  the  walls,  as  previously  arranged, 

in  order  to  spare  the  feelings  of  the  citizens  as  far 

as  possible,  entered  by  what  is  now  called  the  gate 

of  Los  Molinos.    In  a  short  time,  the  large  silver 

!8  Marmol,  Rebelion  de  Moris-  Reyes  Catolicos,  MS.,  cap.  102. 

cos,   ubi  supra.  —  Conde,  Domi-  — Zurita,  Anales,  torn.  iv.  cap. 

nacion  de  los  Arabes,  tom.  iii.  cap.  90.  —  Oviedo,  Quincua^enas,  MS., 

43.  —  Pedraza,   Antiguedad    de  bat.  1,  quinc.  1,  dial.  28. 
Granada,   fol.  76.  —  Bernaldez, 


VOL.  II. 


!:>> 


98 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


fart  cross,  borne  by  Ferdinand  throughout  the  crusade, 
— -  was  seen  sparkling  in  the  sun-beams,  while  the 
standards  of  Castile  and  St.  Jago  waved  trium- 
phantly from  the  red  towers  of  the  Alhambra.  At 
this  glorious  spectacle,  the  choir  of  the  royal  chapel 
broke  forth  into  the  solemn  anthem  of  the  To 
Deum,  and  the  whole  army,  penetrated  with  deep 
emotion,  prostrated  themselves  on  their  knees  in 
adoration  of  the  Lord  of  hosts,  who  had  at  length 
granted  the  consummation  of  their  wishes,  in  this  last 
and  glorious  triumph  of  the  Cross.19  The  grandees 
who  surrounded  Ferdinand  then  advanced  towards 
the  queen,  and  kneeling  down  saluted  her  hand  in 
token  of  homage  to  her  as  sovereign  of  Granada. 
The  procession  took  up  its  march  towards  the  city, 
4  the  king  and  queen  moving  in  the  midst,"  says 
an  historian,  "  emblazoned  with  royal  magnificence  ; 
and,  as  they  were  in  the  prime  of  life,  and  had  now 
achieved  the  completion  of  this  glorious  conquest, 
they  seemed  to  represent  even  more  than  their 
wonted  majesty.  Equal  with  each  other,  they  were 
raised  far  above  the  rest  of  the  world.  They  ap- 
peared, indeed,  more  than  mortal,  and  as  if  sent  by 
Heaven  for  the  salvation  of  Spain."20 


U  Oviedo,  Quineuarrenas,  MS., 
ubi  supra.  —  One  is  reminded  of 
Tasso's  description  of  the  some- 
what similar  feelings  exhibited  by 
the  crusaders  on  their  entrance  into 
Jerusalem. 


20  Mariana,  Hist,  de  EspaHa 
torn.  ii.  p.  597.  —  Pedraza,  Anti- 
guedad  de  Granada,  fol.  76. —  Car- 
bajal,  Anales,  MS.,  afio  140-2. — 
Conde,  Domination  de  los  Arabes, 
torn.  iii.  cap.  43.  —  Bleda,  Coroni- 


Aita  contrizion  successe,  mista 
Di  timoroso  e  riverente  affetto. 


Osano  appena  d'  innalzar  la  vista 
Ver  la  cittA." 

Gerusalemme  Liberata, 
Cant.  iii.  st.  3,  5. 


"  Ecco  apparir  Gerusalem  si  vede, 
Ecco  additar  Gerusalem  si  scorge  ; 
Ecco  da  mille  voci  unitamente 
Gerusalemme  salutar  si  sente. 


*         *  * 


"  Al  gran  piacer  che  quella  prima  vista 
Dolcemente  spiro  nell'  altrui  petto, 


SURRENDER  OF  THE  CAPITAL. 


99 


In  the  mean  while  the  Moorish  kins,  traversing  chapter 

the  route  of  the  Alpuxarras,  reaehed  a  rocky  emi-  .  xv' 

uence  which  commanded  a  last  view  of  Granada. 
He  checked  his  horse,  and,  as  his  eye  for  the  last 
time  wandered  over  the  scenes  of  his  departed 
greatness,  his  heart  swelled,  and  he  burst  into  tears. 
"  You  do  well,"  said  his  more  masculine  mother, 
"  to  weep  like  a  woman,  for  what  you  could  not 
defend  like  a  man  !  "  "  Alas  !  "  exclaimed  the  un- 
happy exile,  "  when  were  woes  ever  equal  to  mine!  " 
The  scene  of  this  event  is  still  pointed  out  to  the 
traveller  by  the  people  of  the  district ;  and  the  rocky 
height,  from  which  the  Moorish  chief  took  his  sad 
farewell  of  the  princely  abodes  of  his  youth,  is 
commemorated  by  the  poetical  title  of  El  Ultimo 
Sospiro  del  Mow,  "  The  Last  Sigh  of  the  Moor." 

The  sequel  of  Abdallah's  history  is  soon  told.  Fateof 

1  J  Abdallab. 

Like  his  uncle,  El  Zagal,  he  pined  away  in  his  bar  - 
ren domain  of  the  Alpuxarras,  under  the  shadow, 
as  it  were,  of  his  ancient  palaces.  In  the  following 
year,  he  passed  over  to  Fez  with  his  family,  having 


ca,  pp.  621,  622.  — Zurita,  Anales, 
torn.  iv.  cap.  90.  —  Marmol,  Re- 
belion  de  Moriscos,  lib.  1,  cap.  20. 
—  L.  Marineo,  and  indeed  most  of 
the  Spanish  authorities,  represent 
the  sovereigns  as  having  postponed 
their  entrance  into  the  city  until 
the  5th  or  6th  of  January.  A  let- 
ter transcribed  by  Pedraza,  ad- 
dressed by  the  queen  to  the  prior 
of  Guadalupe,  one  of  her  council, 
dated  from  the  city  of  Granada  on 
the  2d  of  January,  1492,  shows 
the  inaccuracy  of  this  statement. 
See  folio  76. 

In  Mr.  Lockhart's  picturesque 


version  of  the  Moorish  ballads,  the 
reader  may  find  an  animated  de- 
scription of  the  triumphant  entry  if 
the  Christian  army  into  Granada. 

"  There  was  crying  in  Granada  when  the 

sun  was  going  down, 
Some  culling  on  the  Trinity,  some  calling 

on  Mahoun  j 
Here  passed  away  the  Korar.,  there  in  the 

cross  was  home, 
And  here  was  heard  the  Christian  bell,  and 

there  the  Moorish  horn  ; 
Te  Deum  laudamun  was  up  the  Alcala  sung, 
Down  from  the  Alhambra's  minarets  were 

all  the  crescents  flung ; 
The  arms  thereon  of  Aragon  and  Castile 

they  display  ; 
One  king  comes  in  in  triumph,  one  weep- 
ing goes  away." 


100 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


commuted  his  petty  sovereignty  for  a  considerable 
sum  of  money  paid  him  by  Ferdinand  and  Isabella, 
and  soon  after  fell  in  battle  in  the  service  of  an 
African  prince,  his  kinsman.  "  Wretched  man," 
exclaims  a  caustic  chronicler  of  his  nation,  "  who 
could  lose  his  life  in  another's  cause,  though  he  did 
not  dare  to  die  in  his  own.  Such,"  continues  the 
Arabian,  with  characteristic  resignation,  "  was  the 
immutable  decree  of  destiny.  Blessed  be  Allah, 
who  exalteth  and  debaseth  the  kings  of  the  earth, 
according  to  his  divine  will,  in  whose  fulfilment 
consists  that  eternal  justice,  which  regulates  all 
human  affairs."  The  portal,  through  which  King 
Abdallah  for  the  last  time  issued  from  his  capital, 
was  at  his  request  walled  up,  that  none  other  might 
again  pass  through  it.  In  this  condition  it  remains 
to  this  day,  a  memorial  of  the  sad  destiny  of  the 
last  of  the  kings  of  Granada. 21 

The  fall  of  Granada  excited  general  sensation 
throughout  Christendom,  where  it  was  received  as 
counterbalancing,  in  a  manner,  the  loss  of  Constan- 


21  Conde,  Dominacion  de  los 
Arabes,  torn.  iii.  cap.  90.  —  Car- 
donne,  Hist.  d'Afrique  et  d'Es- 
pagne,  torn.  iii.  pp.  319,  320. — 
Garibay,  Compendio,  torn.  iv.  lib. 
40,  cap.  42. —  Marmol,  Rebelion 
de  Moriscos,  lib.  1,  cap.  20. 

Mr.  Irving,  in  his  beautiful  Span- 
ish Sketch-book,  "The  Alham- 
hra,"  devotes  a  chapter  to  memen- 
tos of  Boahdil,  in  which  he  traces 
minutely  the  route  of  the  deposed 
monarch  after  quitting  the  gates  of 
his  capital.  The  same  author,  in 
the  Appendix  to  his  Chronicle  of 
Granada,  concludes  a  notice  of  Ab- 
dallah's  fate  with  the  following 


description  of  his  person.  "  A  por- 
trait of  Boabdil  el  Chico  is  to  be 
seen  in  the  picture  gallery  of  the 
Generalife.  He  is  represented  with 
a  mild,  handsome  face,  a  fair  com- 
plexion ,  and  yellow  hair.  His  dress 
is  of  yellow  brocade,  relieved  with 
black  velvet ;  and  he  has  a  black 
velvet  cap,  surmounted  with  a 
crown.  In  the  armory  of  Madrid 
are  two  suits  of  armour  said  to 
have  belonged  to  him,  one  of  solid 
steel,  with  very  little  ornament ;  the 
morion  closed.  From  the  propor- 
tions of  these  suits  of  armour,  he 
must  have  been  of  full  stature  and 
vigorous  form."    Note,  p.  398. 


SUKllKNUBA  OF  Till:  CAPITAL. 


101 


tinople,  nearly  half  a  century  before.     At  Rome,  chapter 

the  event  was  commemorated  by  a  solemn  proces-  -* 

sion  of  the  pope  and  cardinals  to  St.  Peter's,  wThere 
high  mass  was  celebrated,  and  the  public  rejoicing 
continued  for  several  days.22  The  intelligence  was 
welcomed  with  no  less  satisfaction  in  England, 
where  Henry  the  Seventh  was  seated  on  the  throne. 
The  circumstances  attending  it,  as  related  by  Lord- 
Bacon,  will  not  be  devoid  of  interest  for  the 
reader. 23 


22  Senarega,  Commentarii  de 
Rebus  Genuensibus,  apud  Murato- 
ri,  Rerum  Italicarum  Scriptcres, 
(Mediolani,  1723-51,)  torn.  xxiv. 
p.  531.  — It  formed  the  subject  of  a 
theatrical  representation  before  the 
court  at  Naples,  in  the  same  year. 
This  drama,  or  Farsa,  as  it  is  call- 
ed by  its  distinguished  author,  San- 
nazaro,  is  an  allegorical  medley,  in 
which  Faith,  Joy,  and  the  false 
prophet  Mahomet  play  the  princi- 
pal parts.  The  difficulty  of  a  pre- 
cise classification  of  this  piece,  has 
given  rise  to  warmer  discussion 
among  Italian  critics,  than  the  sub- 
ject may  be  thought  to  warrant. 
See  Signorelli,  Vicende  della  Col- 
tura  nelle  due  Sicilie,  (Napoli, 
1810,)  torn.  iii.  pp.  543  et  seq. 

2:3  "Somewhat  about  this  time, 
came  letters  from  Ferdinando  and 
Isabella,  king  and  queen  of  Spain  ; 
signifying  the  final  conquest  of 
Granada  from  the  Moors  ;  which 
action,  in  itself  so  worthy,  King 
Ferdinando,  whose  manner  was, 
never  to  lose  any  virtue  for  the 
showing,  had  expressed  and  dis- 
played in  his  letters,  at  large, 
with  all  the  particularities  and  reli- 
gious punctos  and  ceremonies,  that 
were  observed  in  the  reception  of 
that  city  and  kingdom  ;  showing 
amongst  other  things,  that  the 
king  would  not  by  any  means  in 
person  enter  the  city  until  lie  had 


first  aloof  seen  the  Cross  set  up 
upon  the  greater  tower  of  Grana- 
da, whereby  it  became  Christian 
ground.  That  likewise,  before  he 
would  enter,  he  did  homage  to 
God  above,  pronouncing  by  an 
herald  from  the  height  of  that 
tower,  that  he  did  acknowledge  to 
have  recovered  that  kingdom  by 
the  help  of  God  Almighty,  ana1 
the  glorious  Virgin,  and  the  vir- 
tuous apostle  St.  James,  and  the 
holy  father  Innocent  VIII.,  to- 
gether with  the  aids  and  services 
of  his  prelates,  nobles,  and  com- 
mons. That  yet  he  stirred  not 
from  his  camp,  till  he  had  seen 
a  little  army  of  martyrs,  to  the 
number  of  seven  hundred  and 
more  Christians,  that  had  lived 
in  bonds  and  servitude,  as  slaves 
to  the  Moors,  pass  before  his  eyes, 
singing  a  psalm  for  their  redemp- 
tion ;  and  that  he  had  given  tribute 
unto  God,  by  alms  and  relief  ex- 
tended to  them  all,  for  his  admis- 
sion into  the  city.  These  things 
were  in  the  letters,  with  many 
more  ceremonies  of  a  kind  of  holy 
ostentation. 

"The  king,  ever  willing  to  put 
himself  into  the  consort  or  quire  of 
all  religious  actions,  and  naturally 
affecting  much  the  king  of  Spain, 
as  far  as  one  king  can  affect  an- 
other, partly  for  his  virtues,  and 
partly  for  a  counterpoise  to  France ; 


102 


WAR  OF  GRANADA 


PAlRT 
L 

Results  of 
the  war  of 
Granada. 


Thus  ended  the  war  of  Granada,  which  is  often 
compared  by  the  Castilian  chroniclers  to  that  of 
Troy  in  its  duration,  and  which  certainly  fully 
equalled  the  latter  in  variety  of  picturesque  and 
romantic  incidents,  and  in  circumstances  of  poetical 
interest.  With  the  surrender  of  its  capital,  termi- 
nated the  Arabian  empire  in  the  Peninsula,  after  an 
existence  of  seven  hundred  and  forty-one  years 
from  the  date  of  the  original  conquest.  The  con- 
sequences of  this  closing  war  were  of  the  highest 
moment  to  Spain.  The  most  obvious,  was  the  re- 
covery of  an  extensive  territory,  hitherto  held  by  a 
people,  whose  difference  of  religion,  language,  and 
general  habits,  made  them  not  only  incapable  of 


upon  the  receipt  of  these  letters, 
sent  all  his  nohles  and  prelates 
that  were  about  the  court,  together 
with  the  mayor  and  aldermen  of 
London,  in  great  solemnity  to  the 
church  of  Paul  ;  there  to  hear  a 
declaration  from  the  lord  chancel- 
lor, now  cardinal.  When  they 
were  assembled ,  the  cardinal,  stand- 
ing upon  the  uppermost  step,  or 
halfpace,  before  the  quire,  and  all 
the  nobles,  prelates,  and  governors 
of  the  city  at  the  foot  of  the  stairs, 
made  a  speech  to  them  ;  letting 
them  know  that  they  were  assem- 
bled in  that  consecrated  place  to 
sing  unto  God  a  new  song.  For 
that,  said  he,  these  many  years 
the  Christians  have  not  gained 
new  ground  or  territory  upon  the 
infidels,  nor  enlarged  and  set  far- 
ther the  bounds  of  the  Christian 
world.  But  this  is  now  done  by 
the  prowess  and  devotion  of  Ferdi- 
nando  and  Isabella,  kings  of  Spain  ; 
who  have,  to  their  immortal  honor, 
recovered  the  great  and  rich  king- 
dom of  Granada,  and  the  populous 
and  mighty  city  of  the  same  name 


from  the  Moors,  having  been  in 
possession  thereof  by  the  space  of 
seven  hundred  years,  and  more ;  for 
which  this  assembly  and  all  Chris- 
tians are  to  render  laud  and  thanks 
to  God,  and  to  celebrate  this  noble- 
act  of  the  king  of  Spain  ;  who  in 
this  is  not  only  victorious  but 
apostolical,  in  the  gaining  of  new 
provinces  to  the  Christian  faith. 
And  the  rather  for  that  this  vic- 
tory and  conquest  is  obtained  with- 
out much  effusion  of  blood.  Where- 
by it  is  to  be  hoped,  that  there 
shall  be  gained  not  only  new  ter- 
ritory, but  infinite  souls  to  the 
Church  of  Christ,  whom  the  Al- 
mighty, as  it  seems,  would  have 
live  to  be  converted.  Here  withal 
he  did  relate  some  of  the  most 
memorable  particulars  of  the  war 
and  victory.  And,  after  his  speech 
ended,  the  whole  assembly  went 
solemnly  in  procession,  and  Te 
Deum  was  tung.'r  Lord  Bacon, 
History  of  the  Reign  of  King  Hen- 
ry VII.,  in  his  Works,  (ed.  London, 
1819,)  vol.  v.  pp.  85,  86.  —  See 
also  Hall,  Chronicle,  p.  453. 


SURRENDER  OF  THE  CAPITAL. 


103 


assimilating  with  their  Christian  neighbours,  but  chapter 

almost  their  natural  enemies ;   while  their  local  

position  was  a  matter  of  just  concern,  as  interposed 
between  the  great  divisions  of  the  Spanish  mon- 
archy, and  opening  an  obvious  avenue  to  invasion 
from  Africa.  By  the  new  conquest,  moreover,  the 
Spaniards  gained  a  large  extent  of  country,  possess- 
ing the  highest  capacities  for  production,  in  its 
natural  fruitfulness  of  soil,  temperature  of  climate, 
and  in  the  state  of  cultivation  to  which  it  had  been 
brought  by  its  ancient  occupants ;  while  its  shores 
were  lined  with  commodious  havens,  that  afforded 
every  facility  for  commerce.  The  scattered  frag- 
ments of  the  ancient  Visigothic  empire  were  now 
again,  with  the  exception  of  the  little  state  of 
Navarre,  combined  into  one  great  monarchy,  as 
originally  destined  by  nature ;  and  Christian  Spain 
gradually  rose  by  means  of  her  new  acquisitions 
from  a  subordinate  situation,  to  the  level  of  a  first- 
rate  European  power. 

The  moral  influence  of  the  Moorish  war,  its  in-     moral  111 

fluewe 

fluence  on  the  Spanish  character,  was  highly  im- 
portant. The  inhabitants  of  the  great  divisions  of 
the  country,  as  in  most  countries  during  the  feudal 
ages,  had  been  brought  too  frequently  into  collision 
with  each  other  to  allow  the  existence  of  a  pervad- 
ing national  feeling.  This  was  particularly  the 
case  in  Spain,  where  independent  states  insensibly 
grew  out  of  the  detached  fragments  of  territory 
recovered  at  different  times  from  the  Moorish  mon- 
archy. The  war  of  Granada  subjected  all  the  vari- 
ous sections  of  the  country  to  one  common  action, 


104 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


part  under  the  influence  of  common  motives  of  the  most 
—  exciting  interest ;  while  it  brought  them  in  conflict 
with  a  race,  the  extreme  repugnance  of  whose  inst  i- 
tutions and  character  to  their  own,  served  greatly 
to  nourish  the  nationality  of  sentiment.  In  this 
way,  the  spark  of  patriotism  was  kindled  through- 
out the  whole  nation,  and  the  most  distant  prov- 
inces of  the  Peninsula  were  knit  together  by  a  bond 
of  union,  which  has  remained  indissoluble, 
its  military      The  consequences  of  these  wars  in  a  military  as- 

influence.  1  J 

pect  are  also  worthy  of  notice.  Up  to  this  period, 
war  had  been  carried  on  by  irregular  levies,  ex- 
tremely limited  in  numerical  amount  and  in  period 
of  service  ;  under  little  subordination,  except  to 
their  own  immediate  chiefs,  and  wholly  unprovided 
with  the  apparatus  required  for  extended  opera- 
tions. The  Spaniards  were  even  lower  than  most 
of  the  European  nations  in  military  science,  as  is 
apparent  from  the  infinite  pains  of  Isabella  to  avail 
herself  of  all  foreign  resources  for  their  improvement. 
In  the  war  of  Granada,  masses  of  men  were  brought 
together,  far  greater  than  had  hitherto  been  known 
in  modern  warfare.  They  were  kept  in  the  field 
not  only  through  long  campaigns,  but  far  into  the 
winter  ;  a  thing  altogether  unprecedented.  They 
were  made  to  act  in  concert,  and  the  numerous 
petty  chiefs  brought  in  complete  subjection  to  one 
common  head,  whose  personal  character  enforced 
the  authority  of  station.  Lastly,  they  were  sup- 
plied with  all  the  requisite  munitions,  through  the 
providence  of  Isabella,  who  introduced  into  the 
service  the  most  skilful  engineers  from  other  coun- 


SURRENDER  OF  THE  CAPITAL. 


105 


tries,  and  kept  in  pay  bodies  of  mercenaries,  as  the  chapter 
Swiss  for  example,  reputed  the  best  disciplined  — ■  *  , 
troops  of  that  day.  In  this  admirable  school,  the 
Spanish  soldier  was  gradually  trained  to  patient 
endurance,  fortitude,  and  thorough  subordination  ; 
and  those  celebrated  captains  were  formed,  with 
that  invincible  infantry,  which  in  the  beginning  of 
the  sixteenth  century  spread  the  military  fame  of 
their  country  over  all  Christendom. 

But,  with  all  our  sympathy  for  the  conquerors,  it  f^Jor°J 
is  impossible,  without  a  deep  feeling  of  regret,  to 
contemplate  the  decay  and  final  extinction  of  a 
race,  who  had  made  such  high  advances  in  civiliza- 
tion as  the  Spanish  Arabs ;  to  see  them  driven  from 
the  stately  palaces  reared  by  their  own  hands,  wan- 
dering as  exiles  over  the  lands,  which  still  blos- 
somed with  the  fruits  of  their  industry,  and  wasting 
away  under  persecution,  until  their  very  name  as  a 
nation  was  blotted  out  from  the  map  of  history.24 
It  must  be  admitted,  however,  that  they  had  long 
since  reached  their  utmost  limit  of  advancement  as 
a  people.  The  light  shed  over  their  history  shines 
from  distant  ages  ;  for,  during  the  later  period  of 
their  existence,  they  appear  to  have  reposed  in  a 
state  of  torpid,  luxurious  indulgence,  which  would 
seem  to  argue,  that,  when  causes  of  external  ex- 
citement were  withdrawn,  the  inherent  vices  of 

24  The  African  descendants  of  erations,  and  perhaps  still  continue, 

the  Spanish  Moors,  unable  wholly  to  put  up  a  petition  to  that  ef- 

to  relinquish  the  hope  of  restora-  feet  in  their  mosques  every  Friday, 

tion  to  the  delicious  abodes  of  their  Pedraza,  Antigriedad  de  Granada, 

ancestors,  continued  for  many  gen-  fol.  7. 


VOL.  II.  14 


WG 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


part  their  social  institutions  had  incapacitated  them  for 
 l: —  the  further  production  of  excellence.  In  this  im- 
potent condition,  it  was  wisely  ordered,  that  their 
territory  should  be  occupied  by  a  people,  whose  re- 
ligion and  more  liberal  form  of  government,  howev- 
er frequently  misunderstood  or  perverted,  qualified 
them  for  advancing  still  higher  the  interests  of  hu- 
manity. 

Death  uui      It  will  not  be  amiss  to  terminate  the  narrative  of 

cliarnner  of 

irecSui"  ihe  war  of  Granada,  with  some  notice  of  the  fate 
of  Rodrigo  Ponce  de  Leon,  marquis  duke  of  Cadiz; 
for  he  may  be  regarded  in  a  peculiar  manner  as  the 
hero  of  it,  having  struck  the  first  stroke  by  the  sur- 
prise of  Alhama,  and  witnessed  every  campaign  till 
the  surrender  of  Granada.  A  circumstantial  ac- 
count of  his  last  moments  is  afforded  by  the  pen  of 
his  worthy  countryman,  the  Andalusian  Curate  of 
Los  Palacios.  The  gallant  marquis  survived  the 
close  of  the  war  only  a  short  time,  terminating  his 
days  at  his  mansion  in  Seville,  on  the  28th  of  Au- 
gust, 1492,  with  a  disorder  brought  on  by  fatigue 
and  incessant  exposure.  He  had  reached  the  forty- 
ninth  year  of  his  age,  and,  although  twice  married, 
left  no  legitimate  issue.  In  his  person,  he  was 
of  about  the  middle  stature,  of  a  compact,  sym- 
metrical frame,  a  fair  complexion,  with  light  hair 
'  inclining  to  red.  He  was  an  excellent  horseman, 
and  well  skilled  indeed  in  most  of  the  exercises 
of  chivalry.  He  had  the  rare  merit  of  combining 
sagacity  wTith  intrepidity  in  action.  Though  some- 
what impatient,  and  slow  to  forgive,  he  was  frank 


g 


SURRENDER  OF  THE  CAPITAL. 


107 


and  generous,  a  warm  friend,  and  a  kind  mastei  to  ciiapteb 

his  vassals. 25   — 

He  was  strict  in  his  observance  of  the  Catholic 
worship,  punctilious  in  keeping  all  the  church  fes- 
tivals and  in  enforcing  their  observance  through- 
out his  domains ;  and,  in  war,  he  was  a  most 
devout  champion  of  the  Virgin.  He  was  ambitious 
of  acquisitions,  but  lavish  of  expenditure,  especial- 
ly in  the  embellishment  and  fortification  of  his 
towns  and  castles  ;  spending  on  Alcala  de  Guada- 
ira,  Xerez,  and  Alanis,  the  enormous  sum  of  seven- 
teen million  maravedies.  To  the  ladies  he  was 
courteous  as  became  a  true  knight.  At  his  death, 
the  king  and  queen  with  the  whole  court  went  into 
mourning ;  "  for  he  was  a  much-loved  cavalier," 
says  the  Curate,  "  and  was  esteemed,  like  the  Cid, 
both  by  friend  and  foe  ;  and  no  Moor  durst  abide 
in  that  quarter  of  the  field  where  his  banner  was 
displayed." 

His  body,  after  lying  in  state  for  several  days  in 
his  palace  at  Seville,  with  his  trusty  sword  by  his 
side,  with  which  he  had  fought  all  his  battles, 
was  borne  in  solemn  procession  by  night  through 
the  streets  of  the  city,  which  was  everywhere  filled 
with  the  deepest  lamentation ;  and  was  finally  de- 
posited in  the  great  chapel  of  the  Augustine  church, 
in  the  tomb  of  his  ancestors.  Ten  Moorish  ban 
ners,  which  he  had  taken  in  battle  with  the  infidel, 

2^  Carbajal,  Anales,  MS.,  ano  merit  of  the  Moorish  war,  the  firm 

1492.  friend  of  the  marquis  of  Cadiz, 

"Don  Henrique  de  Guzman,  duke  died  the  28th  of  August,  on  the 

of  Medina  Sidonia,  the    ancient  same  day  with  the  latter, 
enemy,  and,  sinre  the  commence- 


108 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


part     before  the  war  of  Granada,  were  borne  along  at 

—  his  funeral,  u  and  still  wave  over  his  sepulchre," 

says  Bernaldez,  "  keeping  alive  the  memory  of  his 
exploits,  as  undying  as  his  soul."  The  banners 
have  long  since  mouldered  into  dust ;  the  very 
tomb  which  contained  his  ashes  has  been  sacrile- 
giously demolished  ;  but  the  fame  of  the  hero  will 
survive  as  long  as  any  thing  like  respect  for  valor, 
courtesy,  unblemished  honor,  or  any  other  attribute 
of  chivalry,  shall  be  found  in  Spain. 


26 


26  Zufiiga,  Annales  de  Sevilla,  ter,  who  had  married  with  one  ol 

p.  411.  —  Bernaldez,  Reyes  Cato-  her  kinsmen.      Cadiz  was  sub- 

licos,  MS.,  cap.  104.  seqnently  annexed  by  the  Spanish 

The  marquis  left  three  illegiti-  sovereigns   to   the    crown,  from 

mate  daughters  by  a  noble  Span-  which  it  had   been  detached  in 

ish  lady,  who   all  formed    high  Henry  IV. 's  time,  and  considerable 

connexions.     He  was  succeeded  estates  were  given  as  an  equiva- 

in  his  titles  and  estates,  by  the  lent,  together  with  the  title  of 

permission  of  Ferdinand  and  Is-  Duke  of  Arcos,  to  the  family  of 

abella,  by  Don  Rodrigo  Ponce  de  Ponce  de  Leon. 
Leon,  the  son  of  his  eldest  daugh- 


Nntice  of         One  of  the  chief  authorities  on 
CnmMM?     which  the  account  of  the  Moorish 
Pala-      war  rests,  is  Andres  Bernaldez, 
ci<>s.  Curate  of  Los  Palacios.    He  was 

a  native  of  Fuente  in  Leon,  and 
appears  to  have  received  his  early 
education  under  the  care  of  his 
grandfather,  a  notary  of  that  place, 
whose  commendations  of  a  juve- 
nile essay  in  historical  writing 
led  him  later  in  life,  according  to 
his  own  accgunt,  to  record  the 
events  of  his  time  in  the  extended 
and  regular  form  of  a  chronicle. 
After  admission  to  orders,  he  was 
made  chaplain  to  Deza,  archbishop 
of  Seville,  and  curate  of  Los  Pa- 
lacios, an  Andalusian  town  not  far 
from  Seville,  where  he  discharged 
his  ecclesiastical  functions  with 
credit,  from  1488  to  1513,  at  which 
time,  as  we  find  no  later  mention 


of  him,  he  probably  closed  his  life 
with  his  labors. 

Bernaldez  had  ample  opportuni- 
ties for  accurate  inlbrmatioa  rela- 
tive to  the  Moorish  war,  since  he 
lived,  as  it  were,  in  the  theatre  of 
action,  ana  was  personally  intimate 
with  the  most  considerable  men  of 
Andalusia,  especially  the  marquis 
of  Cadiz,  whom  he  has  made  the 
Achilles  of  his  epic,  assigning  him 
a  much  more  important  part  in  the 
principal  transactions,  than  is  al- 
ways warranted  by  other  authori- 
ties. His  Chronicle  is  just  such 
as  might  have  been  anticipated 
from  a  person  of  lively  imagination, 
and  competent  scholarsbip  for  the 
time,  deeply  dyed  with  the  bigotry 
and  superstition  of  the  Spanish 
clergy  in  that  century.  There  is 
no  great  discrimination  apparent  in 


SURRENDER  OF  THE  CAPITAL. 


109 


the  work  of  the  worthy  curate, 
who  dwells  with  goggle-eyed  cre- 
dulity ou  the  most  absurd  marvels, 
and  expends  more  pages  on  an 
empty  court  show,  than  on  the 
most  important  schemes  of  policy. 
But  if  he  is  no  philosopher,  he  has, 
perhaps  for  that  very  reason,  suc- 
ceeded in  making  us  completely 
master  of  the  popular  feelings  and 
prejudices  of  the  time  ;  while  he 
gives  a  most  vivid  portraiture  of 
the  principal  scenes  and  actors  in 
this  stirring  war,  with  all  their 
chivalrous  exploit,  and  rich  theat- 
rical accompaniment.  His  credu- 
lity and  fanaticism,  moreover,  are 
well  compensated  by  a  simplicity 
and  loyalty  of  purpose,  which  se- 
cure much  more  credit  to  his  nar- 
rative than  attaches  to  those  of 
more  ambitious  writers,  whose 
judgment  is  perpetually  swayed  by 
personal  or  party  interests.  The 
chronicle  descends  as  late  as  1513, 
although,  as  might  be  expected 
from  the  author's  character,  it  is 
entitled  to  much  less  confidence  in 
the  discussion  of  events  which  fell 
without  the  scope  of  his  persona] 
observation.  Notwithstanding  its 
historical  value  is  fully  recognised 
by  the  Castilian  critics,  it  has  never 
been  admitted  to  the  press,  but 
still  remains  ingulfed  in  the  ocean 
of  manuscripts,  with  which  the 
Spanish  libraries  are  deluged. 

It.  is  remarkable  that  the  war  of 
Granada,  which  is  so  admirably 
suited  in  all  its  circumstances  to 
poetical  purposes,  should  not  have 
been  more  frequently  commemorat- 
ed by  the  epic  muse.  The  only 
euccessful  attempt  in  this  way, 


with  which  I  am  acquainted,  is  the  chapter 
"  Conquisto  di  Granata,"  by  the  xv. 

Florentine  Girolamo  Gratiani,  Mo-  

dena,  1650.  The  author  has  taken 
the  license,  independently  of  his 
machinery,  of  deviating  very  freely 
from  the  historic  track  ;  among 
other  things,  introducing  Columbus 
and  the  Great  Captain  as  principal 
actors  in  the  drama,  in  which  they 
played  at  most  but  a  very  subordi- 
nate part.  The  poem,  which  swells 
into  twenty-six  cantos,  is  in  such 
repute  with  the  Italian  critics,  that 
Quadrio  does  not  hesitate  to  rank 
it  "  among  the  best  epical  produc- 
tions of  the  age."  A  translation 
of  this  work  has  recently  appeared 
at  Nuremberg,  from  the  pen  of 
C.  M.  Winterling,  which  is  much 
commended  by  the  German  critics. 

Mr.  Irving's  late  publication,  the  Irving'* 
"  Chronicle"  of  the  Conquest  of  gjEUj*  of 
Granada,"  has  superseded  all  fur-  *  a 
ther  necessity  for  poetry,  and  un- 
fortunately for  me,  for  history.  He 
has  fully  availed  himself  of  all  the 
picturesque  and  animating  move- 
ments of  this  romantic  era  ;  and 
the  reader,  who  will  take  the  trouble 
to  compare  his  Chronicle  with  the 
present  more  prosaic  and  literal 
narrative,  will  see  how  little  he  has 
been  seduced  from  historic  accu- 
racy by  the  poetical  aspect  of  his 
subject.  The  fictitious  and  roman- 
tic dress  of  his  work  has  enabled 
him  to  make  it  the  medium  for  re- 
flecting more  vividly  the  floating 
opinions  and  chimerical  fancies  of 
the  age,  while  he  has  illuminated 
the  picture  with  the  dramatic  bril- 
liancy of  coloring  denied  to  sober 
history. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 


APPLICATION  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS  AT  THE 
SPANISH  COURT. 

1492. 

Early  Discoveries  of  the  Portuguese.  —  Of  the  Spaniards.  —  Columbus. 
—  His  Application  at  the  Castilian  Court. — Rejected.  —  Negotia- 
tions resumed.  —  Favorable  Disposition  of  the  Queen.  —  Arrange- 
ment with  Columbus.  —  He  sails  on  his  first  Voyage.  —  Indifference 
to  the  Enterprise.  —  Acknowledgments  due  to  Isabella. 

chapter      While  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  were  at  Santa 

XVI 

— — ! —  Fe,  the  capitulation  was  signed,  that  opened  the 
way  to  an  extent  of  empire,  compared  with  which 
their  recent  conquests,  and  indeed  all  their  present 
dominions,  were  insignificant.  The  extraordinary 
intellectual  activity  of  the  Europeans  in  the  fifteenth 
century,  after  the  torpor  of  ages,  carried  them  for- 
ward to  high  advancement  in  almost  every  depart- 
ment of  science,  but  especially  nautical,  whose 
surprising  results  have  acquired  for  the  age,  the 
glory  of  being  designated  as  peculiarly  that  of  mari- 
time discovery.  This  was  eminently  favored  by 
the  political  condition  of  modern  Europe.  Under 
the  Roman  empire,  the  traffic  with  the  east  naturally 
centred  in  Rome,  the  commercial  capital  of  the 
west.    After  the  dismemberment  of  the  empire,  it 


COLUMBUS'S  APPLICATION  AT  THE  COURT. 


Ill 


continued  to  be  conducted  principally  through  the  cuaotto 
channel  of  the  Italian  ports,  whence  it  was  diffused  -  xvl 
over  the  remoter  regions  of  Christendom.  But 
these  countries,  which  had  now  risen  from  the  rank 
of  subordinate  provinces  to  that  of  separate,  inde- 
pendent states,  viewed  with  jealousy  this  monopoly 
of  the  Italian  cities,  by  means  of  which  these  latter 
were  rapidly  advancing  beyond  them  in  power  and 
opulence.  This  was  especially  the  case  with  Por- 
tugal and  Castile,1  which,  placed  on  the  remote 
frontiers  of  the  European  continent,  were  far  re- 
moved from  the  great  routes  of  Asiatic  intercourse ; 
while  this  disadvantage  was  not  compensated  by 
such  an  extent  of  territory,  as  secured  consideration 
to  some  other  of  the  European  states,  equally  un- 
favorably situated  for  commercial  purposes  with 
themselves.  Thus  circumstanced,  the  two  nations 
of  Castile  and  Portugal  were  naturally  led  to  turn 
their  eyes  on  the  great  ocean  which  washed  their 
western  borders,  and  to  seek  in  its  hitherto  unex- 
plored recesses  for  new  domains,  and  if  possible 
strike  out  some  undiscovered  track  towards  the 
opulent  regions  of  the  east. 

The  spirit  of  maritime  enterprise  was  fomented, 
and  greatly  facilitated  in  its  operation,  by  the  inven- 
tion of  the  astrolabe,  and  the  important  discovery 
of  the  polarity  of  the  magnet,  whose  first  applica- 
tion to  the  purposes  of  navigation  on  an  extended 

1  Aragon,  or  rather  Catalonia,  port  of  Barcelona.    See  Capmany 

maintained  an  extensive  commerce  y  Montpalau,  Memorias  Histori- 

vvith  the  Levant,  and  the  remote  cas  sobre  la  Marina,  Comercio  y 

regions  of  the  east,  during  the  mid-  Artes  de  Barcelona,  (Madrid,  1779 

die  ages,  through  the  flourishing  -  92,)  passim. 


CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


i.slt  tlnscov 


part  scale,  may  be  referred  to  the  fifteenth  century.2 
The  Portuguese  were  the  first  to  enter  on  the 
KJSm  of  brilliant  path  of  nautical  discovery,  which  they  pur- 
sued under  the  infant  Don  Henrv  with  such  activ- 
ity,  that,  before  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century, 
they  had  penetrated  as  far  as  Cape  de  Verd,  doubling 
many  a  fearful  headland,  which  had  shut  in  the 
timid  navigator  of  former  days ;  until  at  length,  in 
1486,  they  descried  the  lofty  promontory  which 
terminates  Africa  on  the  south,  and  which,  hailed 
by  King  John  the  Second,  under  whom  it  was  dis- 
covered, as  the  harbinger  of  the  long  sought  passage 
to  the  east,  received  the  cheering  appellation  of 
the  Cape  of  Good  Hope. 
Enriy  span-  The  Spaniards,  in  the  mean  while,  did  not  lan- 
guish  in  the  career  of  maritime  enterprise.  Certain 
adventurers  from  the  northern  provinces  of  Biscay 
and  Guipuscoa,  in  1393,  had   made  themselves 

2  A  council  of  mathematicians  in  tains  this  by  several  similar  refer- 

the  court  of  John  EL,  of  Portugal,  ences  to  other  authors  of  the  same 

first  devised  the  application  of  the  century.    Capmany  finds  no  notice 

ancient  astrolabe  to  navigation,  thus  of  its  use  by  the  Castilian  navigators 

affording  to  the  mariner  the  essen-  earlier  than  1403.    It  was  not  until 

tial  advantages  appertaining  to  the  considerably  later  in  the  fifteenth 

modern  quadrant.  The  discovery  of  century,  that  the  Portuguese  voy- 

the  polarity  of  the  needle,  which  agers,  trusting  to  its  guidance,  ven- 

vulgar  tradition   assigned  to  the  tured  to  quit  the  Mediterranean 

Amalfite  Flavio  Gioja,  and  which  and  African  coasts,  and  extend 

Robertson  has  sanctioned  without  their  navigation  to  Madeira  and  the 

scruple,  is  clearly  proved  to  have  Azores.   See  Navarrete,  Coleccion 

occurred  more  than  a  century  ear-  de  los  Viages  y  Descubrimientos 

lier.    Tiraboschi,  who  investigates  que  hicieron  por  Mar  los  Espafio- 

the  matter  with  his  usual  erudition,  les,  (Madrid,  1825-29,)  tom.i.  Int. 

passing  by  the  doubtful  reference  sec.  33.  —  Tiraboschi,  Letteratura 

of  Guiot  de  Provins,  whose  age  and  Italiana,  torn.  iv.  pp.  173,  174.— 

personal  identity  even  are  contest-  Capmany,   Mem.   de  Barcelona, 

ed,  traces  the  familiar  use  of  the  torn.  iii.  part.  1,  cap.  4.  —  Koch, 

magnetic  needle  as  far  back  as  the  Tableau  des  Revolutions  de  l'Eu- 

first  half  of  the  thirteenth  century,  rope,  (Paris,  1814,)  torn.  i.  pp. 

by  a  pertinent  passage  from  Cardi-  358-300. 
nal  Vilri,  who  died  1244  ;  and  sus- 


HIS  APPLICATION  AT  THE  COURT. 


113 


musters  of  one  of  the  smallest  of  the  group  of  islands,  ciupraB 

XVI 

supposed  to  be  the  Fortunate  Isles  of  the  ancients,  — — — 
since  known  as  the  Canaries.  Other  private  ad- 
venturers from  Seville  extended  their  conquests 
over  these  islands  in  the  beginning  of  the  following 
century.  These  were  completed  in  behalf  of  the 
crown  under  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  who  equipped 
several  fleets  for  their  reduction,  which  at  length 
terminated  in  1495  with  that  of  Teneriffe. 3  From 
the  commencement  of  their  reign,  Ferdinand  and 
Isabella  had  shown  an  earnest  solicitude  for  the  en- 
couragement of  commerce  and  nautical  science,  as 
is  evinced  by  a  variety  of  regulations  which,  how- 
ever imperfect,  from  the  misconception  of  the  true 
principles  of  trade  in  that  day,  are  sufficiently  in- 
dicative of  the  dispositions  of  the  government. 4 
Under  them,  and  indeed  under  their  predecessors 
as  far  back  as  Henry  the  Third,  a  considerable 


y  Four  of  the  islands  were  con- 
quered on  behalf  of  private  adven- 
turers chiefly  from  Andalusia,  be- 
fore the  accession  of  Ferdinand 
and  Isabella,  and  under  their  reign 
were  held  as  the  property  of  a  no- 
ble Castilian  family,  named  Peraza. 
The  sovereigns  sent  a  considerable 
armament  from  Seville  in  1480, 
which  subdued  the  great  island  of 
Canary  on  behalf  of  the  crown,  and 
another  in  1493,  which  effected  the 
reduction  of  Palma  and  Teneriffe 
after  a  sturdy  resistance  from  the 
natives.  Bernaldez  postpones  the 
last  conquest  to  1495.  Salazar  de 
Mendoza,  Monarquia,  torn.  i.  p.  347 
-349.  —  Pulgar,  Reyes  Catolicos, 
pp.  136,  203. —Bernaldez,  Reyes 
Catolicos,  MS.,  cap.  64,  65,  66, 
133.  —  Navarrete,  Coleccion  de  Vi- 
ages,  torn.  i.  introd.,  sec.  28. 


4  Among  the  provisions  of  the 
sovereigns  enacted  previous  to  the 
present  date,  may  be  noted  those 
for  regulating  the  coin  and  weights  ; 
for  opening  a  free  trade  between 
Castile  and  Aragon ;  for  security 
to  Genoese  and  Venetian  trading 
vessels  ;  for  safe  conduct  to  mari- 
ners and  fishermen  ;  for  privileges 
to  the  seamen  of  Palos  ;  for  pro- 
hibiting the  plunder  of  vessels 
wrecked  on  the  coast ;  and  an  or- 
dinance of  the  very  last  year,  re- 
quiring foreigners  to  take  their 
return  cargoes  in  the  products  of 
the  country.  See  these  laws  as 
extracted  from  the  Ordenancas 
Reales  and  the  various  public  ar- 
chives, in  Mem.  de  la  Acad,  de 
Hist.,  torn.  vi.  Ilust.  11. 


VOL.  II. 


ir> 


114 


CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


part     traffic  had  been  carried  on  with  the  western  coast 

— '        of  Africa,  from  which  gold  dust  and  slaves  were 

imported  into  the  city  of  Seville.  The  annalist  of 
that  city  notices  the  repeated  interference  of  Isa- 
bella in  behalf  of  these  unfortunate  beings,  by  or- 
dinances tending  to  secure  them  a  more  equal  pro- 
tection of  the  laws,  or  opening  such  social  indul- 
gences as  might  mitigate  the  hardships  of  their 
condition.  A  misunderstanding  gradually  arose 
between  the  subjects  of  Castile  and  Portugal,  in 
relation  to  their  respective  rights  of  discovery  and 
commerce  on  the  African  coast,  which  promised  a 
fruitful  source  of  collision  between  the  two  crowns  ; 
but  which  was  happily  adjusted  by  an  article  in 
the  treaty  of  1479,  that  terminated  the  war  of  the 
succession.  By  this  it  was  settled,  that  the  right 
of  traffic  and  of  discovery  on  the  western  coast  of 
Africa  should  be  exclusively  reserved  to  the  Portu- 
guese, who  in  their  turn  should  resign  all  claims  on 
the  Canaries  to  the  crown  of  Castile.  The  Span- 
iards, thus  excluded  from  further  progress  to  the 
south,  seemed  to  have  no  other  opening  left  for 
naval  adventure  than  the  hitherto  untravelled  re- 
gions of  the  great  western  ocean.  Fortunately,  at 
this  juncture,  an  individual  appeared  among  them, 
in  the  person  of  Christopher  Columbus,  endowed 
with  capacity  for  stimulating  them  to  this  heroic 
enterprise,  and  conducting  it  to  a  glorious  issue. 5 

5  Zufiiga,  Annales  de   Sevilla,  ges,  torn.  i.  introd.,  sec.  21,  24.  — 

pp.  373,  374,  398. — Zurita,  Ana-  Ferreras,  Hist.  d'Espagne,  turn, 

fes,  torn.  iv.  lib.  20,  cap.  30,  34.  vii.  p.  548. 
—  Navarrete,  Ooleccion  de  Via- 


HIS  APPLICATION  AT  THE  COURT.  115 

This  extraordinary  man  was  a  native  of  Genoa,  chapter 

XVI 

of  humble  parentage,  though  perhaps  honorable 


descent.6  He  was  instructed  in  his  early  youth  at  f£°£u^°" 
Pavia,  where  he  acquired  a  strong  relish  for  the 
mathematical  sciences,  in  which  he  subsequently 
excelled.  At  the  age  of  fourteen,  he  engaged  in  a 
seafaring  life,  which  he  followed  with  little  inter- 
mission till  1470  ;  when,  probably  little  more  than 
thirty  years  of  age,7  he  landed  in  Portugal,  the 
country  to  which  adventurous  spirits  from  all  parts 


6  Spotorno,  Memorials  of  Co- 
lumbus, (London,  1823,)  p.  14. — 
Senarega,  apud  Muratori,  Rerum 
Ital.  Script.,  torn.  xxiv.  p.  535.  — 
Antonio  Gallo,  De  Navigatione 
Columbi,  apud  Muratori,  Rerum 
Ital.  Script.,  torn,  xxiii.  p.  202. 

It  is  very  generally  agreed  that 
the  father  of  Columbus  exercised 
the  craft  of  a  wool-carder,  or 
weaver.  The  admiral's  son,  Fer- 
dinand, after  some  speculation  on 
the  genealogy  of  his  illustrious 
parent,  concludes  with  remarking, 
that,  after  all,  a  noble  descent 
would  confer  less  lustre  on  him 
than  to  have  sprung  from  such  a 
father  ;  a  philosophical  sentiment, 
indicating  pretty  strongly  that  he 
had  no  great  ancestry  to  boast  of. 
Ferdinand  finds  something  ex- 
tremely mysterious  and  typical  in 
his  father's  name  of  Columbus,  sig- 
nifying a  dove,  in  token  of  his  be- 
ing ordained  to  "  carry  the  olive- 
branch  and  oil  of  baptism  over  the 
ocean,  like  Noah's  dove,  to  denote 
the  peace  and  union  of  the  heathen 
people  with  the  church,  after  they 
had  been  shut  up  in  the  ark  of 
darkness  and  confusion."  Fernan- 
do Colon,  Historia  del  Almirante, 
cap.  1,  2,  apud  Barcia,  Historiado- 
res  Primitivos  de  las  Indias  Occi- 
dentales,  (Madrid,  1749,)  torn.  i. 

7  Bernaldez,    Reyes  Catolicos, 


MS.,  cap.  131.  —  Muiioz,  Histo- 
ria del  Nuevo-Mundo,  (Madrid, 
1793,)  lib.  2,  sec.  13. 

There  are  no  sufficient  data  for 
determining  the  period  of  Colum- 
bus's birth.  The  learned  Muiioz 
places  it  in  1446.  (Hist,  del  Nue- 
vo-Mundo, lib.  2,  sec.  12.)  Na- 
varrete,  who  has  weighed  the  vari- 
ous authorities  with  caution,  seems 
inclined  to  remove  it  back  eight  or 
ten  years  further,  resting  chiefly 
on  a  remark  of  Bernaldez,  that  he 
died  in  1506,  "  in  a  good  old  age, 
at  the  age  of  seventy,  a  little  more 
or  less."  (Cap.  131.)  The  ex- 
pression is  somewhat  vague.  In 
order  to  reconcile  the  facts  with 
this  hypothesis,  Navarrete  is  com- 
pelled to  reject,  as  a  chirographi- 
cal  blunder,  a  passage  in  a  letter 
of  the  admiral,  placing  his  birth  in 
1456,  and  to  distort  another  pas- 
sage in  his  book  of"  Prophecies," 
which,  if  literally  taken,  would 
seem  to  establish  his  birth  near  the 
time  assigned  by  Munoz.  Inciden- 
tal allusions  in  some  other  authori- 
ties, speaking  of  Columbus's  old 
age  at  or  near  the  time  of  his 
death,  strongly  corroborate  Navar- 
rete's  inference.  (See  Coleccion 
de  Viages,  torn.  i.  introd.,  sec.  54.) 
—  Mr.  Irving  seems  willing  to  rely 
exclusively  on  the  authority  of 
Bernaldez. 


116 


CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


PART 
I. 


Belief  of 
land  in  the 
west. 


of  the  world  then  resorted,  as  the  great  theatre  of 
maritime  enterprise.  After  his  arrival,  he  continued 
to  make  voyages  to  the  then  known  parts  of  the 
world,  and,  when  on  shore,  occupied  himself  with 
the  construction  and  sale  of  charts  and  maps  ;  while 
his  geographical  researches  were  considerably  aided 
by  the  possession  of  papers  belonging  to  an  emi- 
nent Portuguese  navigator,  a  deceased  relative  of 
his  wife.  Thus  stored  with  all  that  nautical  sci- 
ence in  that  day  could  supply,  and  fortified  by  large 
practical  experience,  the  reflecting  mind  of  Colum- 
bus was  naturally  led  to  speculate  on  the  existence 
of  some  other  land  beyond  the  western  waters ;  and 
he  conceived  the  possibility  of  reaching  the  eastern 
shores  of  Asia,  whose  provinces  of  Zipango  and 
Cathay  were  emblazoned  in  such  gorgeous  colors  in 
the  narratives  of  Mandeville  and  the  Poli,  by  a  more 
direct  and  commodious  route  than  that  which  trav- 
ersed the  eastern  continent.8 

The  existence  of  land  beyond  the  Atlantic,  which 
was  not  discredited  by  some  of  the  most  enlight- 
ened ancients, 9  had  become  matter  of  common 


8  Antonio  de  Herrera,  Historia 
General  de  las  Indias  Occidentales, 
(Amberes,  1728,)  torn.  i.  dec.  1, 
lib.  1.  cap.  7. —  Gomara,  Historia 
de  las  Indias,  cap.  14,  apud  Bar- 
eia,  Hist.  Primitivos,  torn.  ii.  — 
Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catolicos,  MS., 
cap.  118. — Navarrete,  Coleccion 
de  Yiages,  torn.  i.  introd.,  sec.  30. 

Ferdinand  Columbus  enumerates 
three  grounds  on  which  his  father's 
conviction  of  land  in  the  west  was 
founded.  First,  natural  reason,  — 
or  conclusions  drawn  from  science; 
secondly,  authority  of  writers, — 
amounting  to  little  more  than  vague 


speculations  of  the  ancients  ;  third- 
ly, testimony  of  sailors,  compre- 
hending, in  addition  to  populnr 
rumors  of  land  described  in  west- 
ern voyages,  such  relics  as  appear- 
ed to  have  floated  to  the  European 
shores  from  the  other  side  of  the 
Atlantic.  Hist,  del  Almirante. 
cap.  6-8. 

9  None  of  the  intimations  are  so 
precise  as  that  continued  in  i ho 
well-known  lines  of  Seneca's  Me- 
dea, 

44  Venient  nnnis  sircula,"  *C, 
although,  when  regarded  as  a  mere 
poetical  vagary,  it    Ins  not  the 


HIS  APPLICATION  AT  THE  COURT. 


117 


speculation  at  the  close  of  the  fifteenth  century ;  chapter 

when  maritime  adventure  was  daily  disclosing  the   XVI' 

mysteries  of  the  deep,  and  bringing  to  light  new 
regions,  that  had  hitherto  existed  only  in  fancy.  A 
proof  of  this  popular  belief  occurs  in  a  curious  pas- 
sage of  the  "Morgante  Maggiore"  of  the  Florentine 
poet  Pulci,  a  man  of  letters,  but  not  distinguished 
for  scientific  attainments  beyond  his  day. 10  The 
passage  is  remarkable,  independently  of  the  cos- 
mographical  knowledge  it  implies,  for  its  allusion 
to  phenomena  in  physical  science,  not  established 
till  more  than  a  century  later.  The  Devil,  alluding 
to  the  vulgar  superstition  respecting  the  Pillars  of 
Hercules,  thus  addresses  his  companion  Rinaldo. 

"  Know  that  this  theory  is  false  ;  his  bark 
The  daring  mariner  shall  urge  far  o'er 
The  western  wave,  a  smooth  and  level  plain, 
Albeit  the  earth  is  fashioned  like  a  wheel. 
Man  was  in  ancient  days  of  grosser  mould, 
And  Hercules  might  blush  to  learn  how  far 
Beyond  the  limits  he  had  vainly  set, 
The  dullest  sea-boat  soon  shall  wing  her  way. 
Men  shall  descry  another  hemisphere, 


weight  which  belongs  to  more  se- 
rious suggestions,  of  similar  im- 
port, in  the  writings  of  Aristotle 
and  Strabo.  The  various  allusions 
in  the  ancient  classic  writers  to  an 
undiscovered  world  form  the  sub- 
ject of  an  elaborate  essay  in  the 
Memorias  da  Acad.  Real  das  Scien- 
cias  de  Lisboa,  (torn.  v.  pp.  101  — 
11*2,)  and  are  embodied,  in  much 
greater  detail,  in  the  first  section 
of  Humboldt's  "  Histoire  de  la  Geo- 
graphic du  Nouveau Continent"  ;  a 
work  in  which  the  author,  with  his 
usual  acuteness,  lias  successfully 
applied  the  vast  stores  of  his  eru- 


dition and  experience  to  the  illus- 
tration of  many  interesting  points 
connected  with  the  discovery  of 
the  New  World,  and  the  personal 
history  of  Columbus. 

10  It  is  probably  the  knowledge 
of  this  which  has  led  some  writers 
to  impute  part  of  his  work  to  the 
learned  MarsilioFicino,  and  others, 
with  still  less  charity  and  probabil- 
ity, to  refer  the  authorship  of  the 
whole  to  Politian.  Comp.  Tasso, 
Opere,  (Venezia,  1735-42,)  torn, 
x.  p.  129,  —  and  Crescimbeni,  Is- 
toria  dellaVolgarPoesia,  (Venezia, 
1731,)  torn.  iii.  pp.  273,  274. 


CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 

Since  to  one  common  centre  all  things  tend  ; 

So  earth,  by  curious  mystery  divine 

Well  balanced,  hangs  amid  the  starry  spheres. 

At  our  Antipodes  are  cities,  states, 

And  thronged  empires,  ne'er  divined  of  yore. 

But  see,  the  Sun  speeds  on  his  western  path 

To  glad  the  nations  with  expected  light."  11 

Columbus's  hypothesis  rested  on  much  higher 
ground  than  mere  popular  belief.  What  indeed 
was  credulity  with  the  vulgar,  and  speculation  with 
the  learned,  amounted  in  his  mind  to  a  settled 
practical  conviction,  that  made  him  ready  to  peril 
life  and  fortune  on  the  result  of  the  experiment. 
He  was  fortified  still  further  in  his  conclusions  by 
a  correspondence  with  the  learned  Italian  Tosca- 
nelli,  who  furnished  him  with  a  map  of  his  own 
projection,  in  which  the  eastern  coast  of  Asia  was 
delineated  opposite  to  the  western  frontier  of  Eu- 
rope. 12 


11  Pulci,  Morgante  Maggiore, 
canto  25,  st.  229,  230.  — I  have 
used  blank  verse,  as  affording  fa- 
cility for  a  more  literal  version  than 
the  corresponding  ottava  rima  of 
the  original.  This  passage  of  Pul- 
ci, which  has  not  fallen  under  the 
notice  of  Humboldt,  or  any  other 
writer  on  the  same  subject  whom 
I  have  consulted,  affords,  probably, 
the  most  circumstantial  prediction 
that  is  to  be  found  of  the  existence 
of  a  western  world.  Dante,  two 
centuries  before,  had  intimated 
more  vaguely  his  belief  in  an  un- 
discovered quarter  of  the  globe. 

"  De'  vostri  sensi,  ch'  e  del  rimanente, 
Non  vogliate  negar  I'esperienza, 
Diretro  al  sol,  del  moiido  sen/a  gente." 

Inferno,  cant.  26,  v.  115. 

12  Navarrete,  Coleccion  de  Yia- 
ges.  torn,  ii.,  Co\  Dipl.,  no.  I. — 


Munoz,  Hist,  del  Nuevo-Mundo, 
lib.  2,  sec.  17.  —  It  is  singular  that 
Columbus,  in  his  visit  to  Iceland, 
in  14/7,  (see  Fernando  Colon,  Hist, 
del  Almirante,  cap.  4.)  should  have 
learned  nothing  of  the  Scandina- 
vian voyages  to  the  northern  shores 
of  America  in  the  tenth  and  fol- 
lowing centuries ;  yet  if  he  was 
acquainted  with  them,  it  appears 
equally  surprising  that  he  should 
not  have  adduced  the  fact  in  sup- 
port of  his  own  hypothesis  of  the 
existence  of  land  in  the  west ;  and 
that  he  should  have  taken  a  route 
so  different  from  that  of  his  prede- 
cessors in  the  path  of  discovery. 
It  may  be,  however,  as  M.  de  Hum 
boldt  has  well  remarked,  that  the 
information  he  obtained  in  Iceland 
was  too  vague  to  suggest  the  idea, 
that  the  lauds  thus  discovered  by 


HIS  APPLICATION  AT  THE  COURT. 


119 


Filled  with  lofty  anticipations  of  achieving  a  chapter 
discovery,  which  would  settle  a  question  of  such  — x%  L 
moment,  so  long  involved  in  obscuritv  Columbus  applies  to 

7  O  •»  •  Portugal. 

submitted  the  theory  on  which  he  had  founded  his 
belief  in  the  existence  of  a  western  route  to  King 
John  the  Second,  of  Portugal.  Here  he  was  doomed 
to  encounter  for  the  first  time  the  embarrassments 
and  mortifications,  which  so  often  obstruct  the  con- 
ceptions of  genius,  too  sublime  for  the  age  in  which 
they  are  formed.  After  a  long  and  fruitless  nego- 
tiation, and  a  dishonorable  attempt  on  the  part  of 
the  Portuguese  to  avail  themselves  clandestinely 
of  his  information,  he  quitted  Lisbon  in  disgust, 
determined  to  submit  his  proposals  to  the  Spanish 
sovereigns,  relying  on  their  reputed  character  for 
wisdom  and  enterprise. 13 

The  period  of  his  arrival  in  Spain,  being  the  lat-  To  the  court 

*  1         '  O  of  Castile. 

ter  part  of  1484,  would  seem  to  have  been  the 
most  unpropitious  possible  to  his  design.  The  na- 
tion was  then  in  the  heat  of  the  Moorish  war,  and 
the  sovereigns  were  unintermittingly  engaged,  as 
we  have  seen,  in  prosecuting  their  campaigns,  or  in 
active  preparation  for  them.  The  large  expendi- 
ture, incident  to  this,  exhausted  all  their  resources  ; 


the  Northmen  had  any  connexion 
with  the  Indies,  of  which  he  was 
in  pursuit.  In  Columbus's  day, 
indeed,  so  little  was  understood  of 
the  true  position  of  these  countries, 
that  Greenland  is  laid  down  on  the 
maps  in  the  European  seas,  and  as 
a  peninsular  prolongation  of  Scan- 
dinavia. See  Humboldt,  Geogra- 
phic du  Nouveau  Continent,  torn, 
ii.  pp  118,  125. 


13  Herrera,  Indias  Occidentales, 
torn.  i.  dec.  1,  lib.  1,  cap.  7. — 
Munoz,  Hist,  del  Nuevo-Mundo, 
lib.  2,  sec.  19.  —  Gomara,  Hist, 
de  las  Indias,  cap.  15.  —  Benzoni, 
Novi  Orbis  Historia,  lib.  1,  cap.  6. 
—  Fernando  Colon,  Hist,  del  Al- 
mirante,  cap.  10.  — Faria  y  Sousa, 
EuropaPortuguesa,  torn.  ii.  part.  3, 
cap.  4. 


120 


CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


taut  and  indeed  the  engrossing  eharacter  of  this  domes- 
- —  tic  conquest  left  them  little  leisure  for  indulging  in 
dreams  of  distant  and  doubtful  discovery.  Colum- 
bus, moreover,  was  unfortunate  in  his  first  channel 
of  communication  with  the  court.  He  was  furnish- 
ed by  Fray  Juan  Perez  de  Marchena,  guardian  of 
the  convent  of  La  Rabida  in  Andalusia,  who  had 
early  taken  a  deep  interest  in  his  plans,  with  an  in- 
troduction to  Fernando  de  Talavera,  prior  of  Prado, 
and  confessor  of  the  queen,  a  person  high  in  the 
royal  confidence,  and  gradually  raised  through  a 
succession  of  ecclesiastical  dignities  to  the  archil- 
episcopal  see  of  Granada.  He  was  a  man  of  ir- 
reproachable morals,  and  of  comprehensive  bene- 
volence for  that  day,  as  is  shown  in  his  subsequent 
treatment  of  the  unfortunate  Moriscoes. 14  He  was 
also  learned  ;  although  his  learning  was  that  of  the 
cloister,  deeply  tinctured  with  pedantry  and  super- 
stition, and  debased  by  such  servile  deference  even 
to  the  errors  of  antiquity,  as  at  once  led  him  to 
discountenance  every  thing  like  innovation  or  en- 
terprise. 15 

SSSSl  t0"  With  these  timid  and  exclusive  views,  Talavera 
was  so  far  from  comprehending  the  vast  concep- 
tions of  Columbus,  that  he  seems  to  have  regarded 
him  as  a  mere  visionary,  and  his  hypothesis  as  in- 

14  Oviedo,  Quincuagenas,  MS.,  Mufioz  postpones  his  advent  to 
dial,  de  Talavera.  Spain  to  1485,  on  the  supposition 

15  Salazar  de  Mendoza,  Cron.  that  he  offered  his  services  to  Ge- 
del  Gran  Cardenal,  p.  214.  —  Her-  noa  immediately  after  this  rupture 
rera,  Indias  Occidentales,  torn.  i.  with  Portugal.  Hist,  del  JSuevo- 
dec.  1,  lib.  1,  cap.  8.  —  Fernando  Mundo,  lib.  2,  sec.  21. 

Colon,  Hist,  del  Almirante,  cap. 
11. 


HIS  APPLICATION  AT  THE  COURT. 


121 


volving  principles  not  altogether  orthodox.  Fer-  chapter 
dinand  and  Isabella,  desirous  of  obtaining  the  opin-  . — — — 
ion  of  the  most  competent  judges  on  the  merits 
of  Columbus's  theory,  referred  him  to  a  council 
selected  by  Talavera  from  the  most  eminent  schol- 
ars of  the  kingdom,  chiefly  ecclesiastics,  whose  pro- 
fession embodied  most  of  the  science  of  that  day. 
Such  was  the  apathy  exhibited  by  this  learned 
conclave,  and  so  numerous  the  impediments  suggest- 
ed by  dulness,  prejudice,  or  skepticism,  that  years 
glided  away  before  it  came  to  a  decision.  During 
this  time,  Columbus  appears  to  have  remained  in 
attendance  on  the  court,  bearing  arms  occasionally 
in  the  campaigns,  and  experiencing  from  the  sove- 
reigns an  unusual  degree  of  deference  and  personal 
attention ;  an  evidence  of  which  is  afforded  in  the 
disbursements  repeatedly  made  by  the  royal  order 
for  his  private  expenses,  and  in  the  instructions, 
issued  to  the  municipalities  of  the  different  towns 
in  Andalusia,  to  supply  him  gratuitously  with  lodg- 
ing and  other  personal  accommodations.  16 

At  length,  however,  Columbus,  wearied  out  by  ™s  »ppii<»- 

©      1  1  '  J    tion  rejected. 

this  painful  procrastination,  pressed  the  court  for  a 
definite  answer  to  his  propositions  ;  when  he  was 
informed,  that  the  council  of  Salamanca  pronoun- 
ced his  scheme  to  be  "  vain,  impracticable,  and 
resting  on  grounds  too  weak  to  merit  the  support 
of  the  government."  Many  in  the  council,  however, 
were  too  enlightened  to  acquiesce  in  this  sentence 

!6  Herrera,  Indias  Occidentals,  Navarrete,  Coleccion  de  Viages, 
doo.  1,  lib.  1,  cap.  8.  —  Zufiiga,  torn.  i.  sec.  60,  61,  torn,  ii.,  Col. 
Annales   de  Sevilla,  p.  104.  —    Dipl.  nos  2,  4. 


VOL.  II. 


1G 


122 


CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


part  of  the  majority.  Some  of  the  most  considerable 
— - —  persons  of  the  court,  indeed,  moved  by  the  cogency 
of  Columbus's  arguments,  and  affected  by  the  ele- 
vation and  grandeur  of  his  views,  not  only  cordially 
embraced  his  scheme,  but  extended  their  personal 
intimacy  and  friendship  to  him.  Such,  among 
others,  were  the  grand  cardinal  Mendoza,  a  man 
whose  enlarged  capacity,  and  acquaintance  with 
affairs,  raised  him  above  many  of  the  narrow  pre- 
judices of  his  order,  and  Deza,  archbishop  of  Se- 
ville, a  Dominican  friar,  whose  commanding  talents 
were  afterwards  unhappily  perverted  in  the  service 
of  the  Holy  Office,  over  which  he  presided  as  suc- 
cessor to  Torquemada. 17  The  authority  of  these 
individuals  had  undoubtedly  great  weight  with  the 
sovereigns,  who  softened  the  verdict  of  the  junto, 
by  an  assurance  to  Columbus,  that,  "  although  they 
were  too  much  occupied  at  present  to  embark  in 
his  undertaking,  yet,  at  the  conclusion  of  the  war, 
they  should  find  both  time  and  inclination  to  treat 
with  him."  Such  was  the  ineffectual  result  of 
Columbus's  long  and  painful  solicitation ;  and  far 
from  receiving  the  qualified  assurance  of  the  sove- 
reigns in  mitigation  of  their  refusal,  he  seems  to 
have  considered  it  as  peremptory  and  final.  In 

W  This  prelate,  Diego  de  Deza,  course  of  episcopal  preferment,  to 

was  born  of  poor,  but  respectable  the  metropolitan  see  of  Seville, 

parents,  at  Toro.    He  early  enter-  His  situation,  as  confessor  of  Fer- 

ed  the  Dominican  order,  where  his  dinand,  gave  him  great  influence 

learning  and  exemplary  life    re-  over  that  monarch,  with  whom  he 

commended  him  to  the  notice  of  appears  to  have  maintained  an  in- 

the  sovereigns,  who  called  him  to  timate  correspondence,  to  the  day 

court  to  take  charge   of  Prince  of  his  death.    Oviedo,  Quincuage- 

John's  education.    He  was  after-  nas,  MS.,  dial,  de  Deza. 
wards  raised,  through  the  usual 


HIS  APPLICATION  AT  THE  COURT. 


123 


great  dejection  of  mind,  therefore,  but  without  chapter 

further  delay,  he  quitted  the  court,  and  bent  his   XVL 

way  to  the  south,  with  the  apparently  almost  des- 
perate intent  of  seeking  out  some  other  patron  to 
his  undertaking. 18 

Columbus  had  already  visited  his  native  city  of  "e  prepare. 

J  to  leave 

Genoa,  for  the  purpose  of  interesting  it  in  his  scheme  Spam 
of  discovery  ;  but  the  attempt  proved  unsuccessful. 
He  now  made  application,  it  would  seem,  to  the 
dukes  of  Medina  Sidonia  and  Medina  Celi,  succes- 
sively, from  the  latter  of  whom  he  experienced  much 
kindness  and  hospitality;  but  neither  of  these  no- 
bles, whose  large  estates  lying  along  the  sea-shore 
had  often  invited  them  to  maritime  adventure,  was 
disposed  to  assume  one  which  seemed  too  hazard- 
ous for  the  resources  of  the  crown.  Without  wast- 
ing time  in  further  solicitation,  Columbus  prepared  1491. 
with  a  heavy  heart  to  bid  adieu  to  Spain,  and  carry 
his  proposals  to  the  king  of  France,  from  whom  he 
had  received  a  letter  of  encouragement  while  de- 
tained in  Andalusia. 19 


J8  Fernando  Colon.  Hist.  Jel 
Almirante,  cap.  11.  —  Salazar  de 
Mendoza,  Cron.  del  (  Jran  Cardenal, 
p.  215.  —  Mufioz,  Hist,  del  Nuevo- 
Mundo,  lib.  2,  sec.  25,  29.  —  Na- 
varre te,  Coleccion  de  Viages,  torn, 
i.,  introd.,  sec.  GO. 

!9  Herrera,  Indias  Occidentales, 
dec.  1,  lib.  1,  cap.  8. — Muiloz, 
Hist,  del  Nuevo-Mundo,  lib.  2, 
sec.  27.  — Spotorno,  Memorials  of 
Columbus,  pp.  31  -  33.  —  The  last 
dates  the  application  to  Genoa  prior 
to  that  to  Portugal. 

A  letter  from  the  duke  of  Medi- 
na Celi  to  the  cardinal  of  Spain, 
dated  19th  March,  1493,  refers  to 


his  entertaining  Columbus  as  his 
guest  for  two  years.  It  is  very 
difficult  to  determine  the  date  of 
these  two  years.  If  Herrera  is 
correct  in  the  statement,  that,  after 
a  five  years'  residence  at  court, 
whose  commencement  he  had  pre- 
viously referred  to  1484,  he  car- 
ried his  proposals  to  the  duke  of 
Medina  Celi,  (see  cap.  7, 8,)  the 
two  years  may  have  intervened 
between  1489  -  1491.  Navarrete 
places  them  between  the  departure 
from  Portugal,  and  the  first  ap- 
plication to  the  court  of  Castile,  in 
1486.  Some  other  writers,  and 
among  them  Muiloz  and  Irving, 


\ 


124  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 

part  His  progress,  however,  was  arrested  at  the  con- 
— . —  vent  of  La  Rabida,  which  he  visited  previous  to 
S?*'is  departure,  by  his  friend  the  guardian,  who  pre- 
vailed on  him  to  postpone  his  journey  till  anothei 
effort  had  been  made  to  move  the  Spanish  court  in 
his  favor.  For  this  purpose  the  worthy  ecclesiastic 
undertook  an  expedition  in  person  to  the  newly 
erected  city  of  Santa  Fe,  where  the  sovereigns  lay 
encamped  before  Granada.  Juan  Perez  had  for- 
merly been  confessor  of  Isabella,  and  was  held  in 
great  consideration  by  her  for  his  excellent  quali- 
ties. On  arriving  at  the  camp,  he  was  readily  ad- 
mitted to  an  audience,  when  he  pressed  the  suit  of 
Columbus  with  all  the  earnestness  and  reasoning 
of  which  he  was  capable.  The  friar's  eloquence 
was  supported  by  that  of  several  eminent  persons, 
whom  Columbus  during  his  long  residence  in  the 
country  had  interested  in  his  project,  and  who 
viewed  with  sincere  regret  the  prospect  of  its 
abandonment.  Among  these  individuals,  are  par- 
ticularly mentioned  Alonso  de  Quintanilla,  comp- 
troller general  of  Castile,  Louis  de  St.  Angel,  a 
fiscal  officer  of  the  crown  of  Aragon,  and  the 
marchioness  of  Moya,  the  personal  friend  of  Isabel- 
la, all  of  whom  exercised  considerable  influence 

referring  his  application  to  Genoa  ing  before  begun  in  1486.  (Life 

to  1485,  and  his  first  appearance  of  Columbus,  (London,  1828,) 

in  Spain  to  a  subsequent  period,  comp.  vol.  i.  pp.  109,  141.)  In 

make  no  provision  for  the  resi-  fact,  the  discrepancies  among  the 

dence   with  the  duke  of  Medina  earliest  authorities  are  such  as  to 

Celi.   Mr.  Irving  indeed  is  betray-  render  hopeless  any  attempt  to  set- 

ed  into  a  chronological  inaccuracy,  tie  with  precision  the  chronology 

in  speaking  of  a  seven  years'  resi-  of  Columbus's  movements  previous 

dence  at  the  court  in  1491,  which  to  his  first  voyage, 
he  had  previously  noticed  as  hav- 


HIS  APPLICATION  AT  THE  COURT. 


over  her  counsels.    Their  representations,  combin-  chapter 

XVI 

ed  with  the  opportune  season  of  the  application,   . — 

occurring  at  the  moment  when  the  approaching 
termination  of  the  Moorish  war  allowed  room  for 
interest  in  other  objects,  wrought  so  favorable  a 
change  in  the  dispositions  of  the  sovereigns,  that 
they  consented  to  resume  the  negotiation  with  Co- 
lumbus. An  invitation  was  accordingly  sent  to 
him  to  repair  to  Santa  Fe,  and  a  considerable  sum 
provided  for  his  suitable  equipment,  and  his  ex- 
penses on  the  road. 20 

Columbus,  who  lost  no  time  in  availing  himself  coiumbusat 

'  &  Santn  Fe. 

of  this  welcome  intelligence,  arrived  at  the  camp 
in  season  to  witness  the  surrender  of  Granada, 
when  every  heart,  swelling  with  exultation  at  the 
triumphant  termination  of  the  war,  was  naturally 
disposed  to  enter  with  greater  confidence  on  a  new 
career  of  adventure.  At  his  interview  with  the 
king  and  queen,  he  once  more  exhibited  the  argu- 
ments on  which  his  hypothesis  was  founded.  He 
then  endeavoured  to  stimulate  the  cupidity  of  his 
audience,  by  picturing  the  realms  of  Mangi  and 
Cathay,  which  he  confidently  expected  to  reach  by 
this  wrestern  route,  in  all  the  barbaric  splendors 
which  had  been  shed  over  them  by  the  lively  fancy 
of  Marco  Polo  and  other  travellers  of  the  middle 
ages ;  and  he  concluded  with  appealing  to  a  higher 
principle,  by  holding  out  the  prospect  of  extending 

'20  Ferreras,  Hist.  d'Espagne,  den  tales,  dec.  I,  lib.  1,  cap.  8. — 

torn.  viii.  pp.  129,  130. — Mufioz,  Navarrete,  Coleccion  de  Viages, 

Hist,  del  Nuevo-Mundo,  lib.  2,  torn,  i.,  in  trod.,  sec.  60. 
sec.  31.  — Herrera,  Indias  Occi- 


126 


CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


part  the  empire  of  the  Cross  over  nations  of  benighted 
1  heathen,  while  he  proposed  to  devote  the  profits  of 
his  enterprise  to  the  reeovery  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre. 
This  last  ebullition,  which  might  well  have  passed 
for  fanaticism  in  a  later  day,  and  given  a  visionary 
tinge  to  his  whole  project,  was  not  quite  so  prepos- 
terous in  an  age,  in  which  the  spirit  of  the  crusades 
might  be  said  still  to  linger,  and  the  romance  of 
religion  had  not  yet  been  dispelled  by  sober  reason. 
The  more  temperate  suggestion  of  the  diffusion  of 
the  gospel  was  well  suited  to  affect  Isabella,  in 
whose  heart  the  principle  of  devotion  was  deeply 
seated,  and  who,  in  all  her  undertakings,  seems  to 
have  been  far  less  sensible  to  the  vulgar  impulses 
of  avarice  or  ambition,  than  to  any  argument  con- 
nected, however  remotely,  with  the  interests  of 
religion.21 

Negotiation!      Amidst  all  these  propitious  demonstrations  to- 

apnin  broken  A  A 

off-  wards  Columbus,  an  obstacle  unexpectedly  arose 

in  the  nature  of  his  demands,  which  stipulated  for 
himself  and  heirs  the  title  and  authority  of  Admiral 
and  Viceroy  over  all  lands  discovered  by  him,  with 
one  tenth  of  the  profits.  This  was  deemed  wholly 
inadmissible.  Ferdinand,  who  had  looked  with 
cold  distrust  on  the  expedition  from  the  first,  was 
supported  by  the  remonstrances  of  Talavera,  the 
new  archbishop  of  Granada ;  who  declared,  that 
"  such  demands  savoured  of  the  highest  degree  of 
arrogance,  and  would  be  unbecoming  in  their  High- 

2*  Herrera,  Indias  Occidentales,  Coleccion  de  Viages,  torn.  i.  pp.  2 
dec.  1,  lib.  1,  cap.  8.  —  Primer  117.  —  Fernando  Colon,  Hist,  del 
Viage  de  Colon,  apud  Navarrete,    Almirante,  cap.  13 


HIS  APPLICATION  AT  THE  COURT. 


127 


ncsscs  to  grant  to  a  needy  foreign  adventurer."  chapter 

Columbus,  however,  steadily  resisted  every  attempt   XVL 

to  induce  him  to  modify  his  propositions.  On  this 
ground,  the  conferences  were  abruptly  broken  off, 
and  he  once  more  turned  his  back  upon  the  Spanish 
court,  resolved  rather  to  forego  his  splendid  antici- 
pations of  discovery,  at  the  very  moment  when  the 
career  so  long  sought  was  thrown  open  to  him, 
than  surrender  one  of  the  honorable  distinctions 
due  to  his  services.  This  last  act  is  perhaps  the 
most  remarkable  exhibition  in  his  whole  life,  of 
that  proud,  unyielding  spirit,  which  sustained  him 
through  so  many  years  of  trial,  and  enabled  him  at 
length  to  achieve  his  great  enterprise,  in  the  face 
of  every  obstacle  which  man  and  nature  had  op- 
posed to  it.22 

The  misunderstanding  was  not  suffered  to  be  of  ™*rXeenH 
long  duration.    Columbus's  friends,  and  especially  dlsI)OMllon- 
Louis  de  St.  Angel,  remonstrated  with  the  queen 
on  these  proceedings  in  the  most  earnest  manner. 
He  frankly  told  her,  that  Columbus's  demands,  if 
high,  were  at  least  contingent  on  success,  when 
they  would  be  well  deserved ;  that,  if  he  failed,  he 
required  nothing.    He  expatiated  on  his  qualifica- 
tions for  the  undertaking,  so  signal  as  to  insure  in 
all  probability  the  patronage  of  some  other  monarch, 
who  would  reap  the  fruits  of  his  discoveries ;  and  ■ 
he  ventured  to  remind  the  queen,  that  her  present 
policy  was  not  in  accordance  with  the  magnanimous 
spirit,  which  had  hitherto  made  her  the  ready  patron 


22  Mufioz,  Hist,  del  Neuvo-Mun-  Colon,  Hist,  del  Almirante,  ubi 
do,  lib.  2,  set  28,29. — Fernando  supra. 


123 


CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


part  of  great  and  heroic  enterprise.  Far  from  being 
 !   displeased,  Isabella  was  moved  by  his  honest  elo- 
quence. She  contemplated  the  proposals  of  Col- 
umbus in  their  true  light ;  and,  refusing  to  hearken 
any  longer  to  the  suggestions  of  cold  and  timid 
counsellors,  she  gave  way  to  the  natural  impulses 
of  her  own  noble  and  generous  heart ;  "  I  will 
assume  the  undertaking,"  said  she,  "  for  my  own 
crown  of  Castile,  and  am  ready  to  pawn  my  jewels 
to  defray  the  expenses  of  it,  if  the  funds  in  the 
treasury  shall  be  found  inadequate."  The  treasury 
had  been  reduced  to  the  lowest  ebb  by  the  late 
war ;  but  the  receiver,  St.  Angel,  advanced  the 
sums  required,  from  the  Aragonese  revenues  de 
posited  in  his  hands.  Aragon  however  was  not 
considered  as  adventuring  in  the  expedition,  the 
charges  and  emoluments  of  which  were  reserved 
exclusively  for  Castile. 23 
Final ar-         Columbus,  who  was  overtaken  by  the  royal  mes- 

rangement  7  J  J  J 

with  coium-  senger  at  a  few  leagues'  distance  only  from  Grana- 
da, experienced  the  most  courteous  reception  on 
his  return  to  Santa  Fe,  where  a  definitive  arrange 
ment  was  concluded  with  the  Spanish  sovereigns, 
April  17th,  1492.  By  the  terms  of  the  capitulation, 
Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  as  lords  of  the  ocean-seas, 
constituted  Christopher  Columbus  their  admiral, 
•  viceroy,  and  governor-general  of  all  such  islands 
and  continents  as  he  should  discover  in  the  western 
ocean,  with  the  privilege  of  nominating  three  can- 

23  Herrera,  Indias  Occidentales,  32,  33.  —  Fernando  Colon,  Hist, 
dec.  1,  lib.  1,  cap.  8.  —  Mufioz,  del  Almirante,  cap.  14.  —  Gomara, 
Hist,  del  Nuevo-Mundo,  lib.  2,  sec.    Hist,  de  las  Indias,  cap.  15. 


ilIS  APPLICATION  AT  THE  COURT. 


129 


didates,  lor  the  selection  of  one  by  the  crown,  for  chapter 

the  government,  of  each  of  these  territories.    He   XVI  z. 

was  to  be  vested  with  exclusive  right  of  jurisdiction 
over  all  commercial  transactions  within  his  admi- 
ralty. He  was  to  be  entitled  to  one  tenth  of  all 
the  products  and  profits  within  the  limits  of  his 
discoveries,  and  an  additional  eighth,  provided  he 
should  contribute  one  eighth  part  of  the  expense. 
By  a  subsequent  ordinance,  the  official  dignities 
above  enumerated  were  settled  on  him  and  his 
heirs  for  ever,  with  the  privilege  of  prefixing  the 
title  of  Don  to  their  names,  wrhich  had  not  then 
degenerated  into  an  appellation  of  mere  courtesy.24 

No  sooner  were  the  arrangements  completed,  He  sails  on 
than  Isabella  prepared  with  her  characteristic 
promptness  to  forward  the  expedition  by  the  most 
efficient  measures.  Orders  were  sent  to  Seville  and 
the  other  ports  of  Andalusia,  to  furnish  stores  and 
other  articles  requisite  for  the  voyage,  free  of  duty, 
and  at  as  low  rates  as  possible.  The  fleet,  con- 
sisting of  three  vessels,  was  to  sail  from  the  little 
port  of  Palos  in  Andalusia,  which  had  been  con- 
demned for  some  delinquency  to  maintain  two  cara- 
vels for  a  twelvemonth  for  the  public  service.  The 
third  vessel  was  furnished  by  the  admiral,  aided,  as 
it  would  seem,  in  defraying  the  charges,  by  his 
friend  the  guardian  of  La  Rabida,  and  the  Pinzons, 
•  a  family  in  Palos  long  distinguished  for  its  enter5 
prise  among  the  mariners  of  that  active  community. 

24  Navarrete,  Coleccion  de  Via-    p.  412. — Mariana,  Hist    de  Es~ 
ges,  torn,  ii.,  Col.  Diplomat.,  nos.    pana,  torn.  ii.  p.  C05. 
5,  6.  — Zufii£a,  Annales  de  Sevilla, 


VOL.  II. 


17 


130 


CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


part  With  their  assistance,  Columbus  was  enabled  to 
_ - —  surmount  the  disinclination,  and  indeed  open  oppo- 
sition, manifested  by  the  Andalusian  mariners  to  his 
perilous  voyage  ;  so  that  in  less  than  three  months 
his  little  squadron  was  equipped  for  sea.  A  suffi- 
cient evidence  of  the  extreme  unpopularity  of  the 
expedition  is  afforded  by  a  royal  ordinance  of  the 
30th  of  April,  promising  protection  to  all  persons, 
who  should  embark  in  it,  from  criminal  prosecution 
of  whatever  kind,  until  two  months  after  their 
return.  The  armament  consisted  of  two  caravels, 
or  light  vessels  without  decks,  and  a  third  of  larger 
burden.  The  total  number  of  persons  who  em- 
barked amounted  to  one  hundred  and  twenty ;  and 
the  whole  charges  of  the  crown  for  the  expedition 
did  not  exceed  seventeen  thousand  florins.  The 
fleet  was  instructed  to  keep  clear  of  the  African 
coast,  and  other  maritime  possessions  of  Portugal. 
At  length,  all  things  being  in  readiness,  Columbus 
and  his  whole  crew  partook  of  the  sacrament,  and 
confessed  themselves,  after  the  devout  manner  of 
the  ancient  Spanish  voyagers,  when  engaged  in  any 
important  enterprise  ;  and  on  the  morning  of  the 
3d  of  August,  1492,  the  intrepid  navigator,  bidding 
adieu  to  the  old  world,  launched  forth  on  that  un- 
fathomed  waste  of  waters  where  no  sail  had  been 
ever  spread  before.25 

25  Peter  Martyr,  De  Rebus  Oce-  Hist,  del  Almirante,  cap.  14.  — 

anicis  et  Novo  Orbe,  (Colonic,  Mufioz,  Hist,  del  Nuevo-Mundo, 

1574,)  dec.  1,  lib.  1.  —  Navarrete,  lib.  2,  sec.  33.  —  Benzoni,  Novi 

Coleccion  de*  Viages,  torn,  ii.,  Col.  Orbis  Hist.,  lib.  1,  cap.  6.  —  Go- 

Diplomat.,  nos.  7,  8,  9,  10,  12. —  mara,  Hist,  de  las  Indias,  cap.  15. 

Herrera,  Indias  Occidentals,  dec.  The  expression  in  the  text  will 

1,  lib.  1,  cap.  9.  —  Fernando  Colon,  not  seem  too  strong,  even  admitting 


HIS  APPLICATION  AT  THE  COURT. 


131 


XVI. 


Indifference 
enter, 
prise. 


It  is  impossible  to  peruse  the  story  of  Columbus  chapter 
without  assigning  to  him  almost  exclusively  the 
glory  of  his  great  discovery ;  for,  from  the  first  mo-  t!  hS 
ment  of  its  conception  to  that  of  its  final  execution, 
he  was  encountered  by  every  species  of  mortifica- 
tion and  embarrassment,  with  scarcely  a  heart  to 
cheer,  or  a  hand  to  help  him.26  Those  more  en- 
lightened persons,  whom,  during  his  long  residence 
in  Spain,  he  succeeded  in  interesting  in  his  expedi- 
tion, looked  to  it  probably  as  the  means  of  solving 
a  dubious  problem,  with  the  same  sort  of  vague  and 
skeptical  curiosity  as  to  its  successful  result,  with 
which  we  contemplate,  in  our  day,  an  attempt  to 
arrive  at  the  Northwest  passage.  How  feeble  was 
the  interest  excited,  even  among  those,  who  from 
their  science  and  situation  would  seem  to  have 
their  attention  most  naturally  drawn  towards  it, 
may  be  inferred  from  the  infrequency  of  allusion  to 

the  previous  discoveries  of  the  faithful  and  able  manner.    It  may 

Northmen,  which  were  made  in  be  doubted,  however,  whether  the 

so  much  higher  latitudes.    Plum-  declaration  of  the  Prospectus,  that 

buldt  has  well  shown  the  probabil-  "  it  was  the  knowledge  of  the 

ity,  a  pj-iori,  of  such  discoveries,  Scandinavian  voyages,  in  all  prob- 

made  in  a  narrow  part  of  the  At-  ability,  which  prompted  the  expe- 

lantic,  where  the  Orcades,  the  Fe-  dition  of  Columbus,"  can  ever  be 

roe  Islands,  Iceland,  and  Green-  established.    His  personal  history 

land  afforded  the  voyager  so  many  furnishes  strong  internal  evidence 

intermediate  stations,  at  moderate  to  the  contrary, 
distances  from  each  other.     (Geo-       26  How  strikingly  are  the  forlorn 

graphic  du   Nouveau  Continent,  condition  and  indomitable  energy 

torn.  ii.  pp.  183  et  seq.)  The  publi-  of  Columbus  depicted  in  the  fol- 

cation  of  the  original  Scandinavian  lowing  noble  verses  of  Chiabrera  ; 
MSS.,  (of  which  imperfect  notices  ,  .    .  . 

nnA  okl^U**   ™l.r  u,M     *         Certo  da  cor,  ch'  alto  rlestin  non  scelse, 

and  selections,  only,  have  hitherto  Son  1Mmpres'e  magwrnime  negiette; 
found  their  way  into  the  world,)      Ma le ball'  alme alle  beLP  opre  elette 

by  the  Royal  Society  of  Northern  Sanno  "ioir  ,lelle  fat'che  eccelse 

A  „*:„  „  ;         .  u  •  Ne  biasino  popolar,  frale  catena, 

Antiquaries,  at  Copenhagen,  IS  a  Spirto  d' onore  Jl  sik>  cammin  reffrena. 

matter  of  the  deepest  interest ;  and  Coal  lunga  stagion  per  modi  Indegni 

it  is  fortunate,  that  it  is  to  be  con-  Em-opa  diapreao  V  IncKta  wme, 

i     .    !       j     '        .  ...  Schernendo  ii  vnli^o,  e  seco  i  Regi  insieme, 

aucted  under  auspices,  which  must  Nudo  nocchier,  promettitor  di  Regni." 
insure  its  execution  in  the  most  Rime,  parte  l,  canzone  12. 


132 


CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


part  it  in  the  correspondence  and  other  writings  of  that 
  time,  previous  to  the  actual  discovery.  Peter  Mar- 
tyr, one  of  the  most  accomplished  scholars  of  the 
period,  whose  residence  at  the  Castilian  court  must 
have  fulty  instructed  him  in  the  designs  of  Colum- 
bus, and  whose  inquisitive  mind  led  him  subse- 
quently to  take  the  deepest  interest  in  the  results 
of  his  discoveries,  does  not,  so  far  as  I  am  aware, 
allude  to  him  in  any  part  of  his  voluminous  cor- 
respondence with  the  learned  men  of  his  time,  pre- 
vious to  the  first  expedition.  The  common  people 
regarded,  not  merely  with  apathy,  but  with  terror, 
the  prospect  of  a  voyage,  that  was  to  take  the 
mariner  from  the  safe  and  pleasant  seas  which  he 
was  accustomed  to  navigate,  and  send  him  roving 
on  the  boundless  wilderness  of  waters,  which  tradi- 
tion and  superstitious  fancy  had  peopled  with  innu- 
merable forms  of  horror. 

It  is  true  that  Columbus  experienced  a  most 
honorable  reception  at  the  Castilian  court ;  such  as 
-  naturally  flowed  from  the  benevolent  spirit  of  Isa- 
bella, and  her  just  appreciation  of  his  pure  and 
elevated  character.  But  the  queen  wras  too  little 
of  a  proficient  in  science  to  be  able  to  estimate  the 
merits  of  his  hypothesis  ;  and,  as  many  of  those,  on 
whose  judgment  she  leaned,  deemed  it  chimerical, 
it  is  probable  that  she  never  entertained  a  deep 
conviction  of  its  truth  ;  at  least  not  enough  te 
warrant  the  liberal  expenditure,  which  she  never 
refused  to  schemes  of  real  importance.  This  is 
certainly  inferred  by  the  paltry  amount  actually 
expended  on  the  armament,  far  inferior  to  that 


HIS  APPLICATION  AT  THE  COURT. 


133 


appropriated  to  the  equipment  of  two  several  fleets  chapter 

in  the  course  of  the  late  war  for  a  foreign  expedi-  XVL 

tion,  as  well  as  to  that,  with  which  in  the  ensuing 

year  she  followed  up  Columbus's  discoveries. 

But  while,  on  a  review  of  the  circumstances,  we  Acknowl- 
edgments 

are  led  more  and  more  to  admire  the  constancy  tn.'.0183" 
and  unconquerable  spirit,  which  carried  Columbus 
victorious  through  all  the  ^difficulties  of  his  under- 
taking, we  must  remember,  in  justice  to  Isabella, 
that,  although  tardily,  she  did  in  fact  furnish  the 
resources  essential  to  its  execution  ;  that  she  under- 
took the  enterprise  when  it  had  been  explicitly  de- 
clined by  other  powers,  and  when  probably  none 
other  of  that  age  would  have  been  found  to  coun- 
tenance it ;  and  that,  after  once  plighting  her  faith 
to  Columbus,  she  became  his  steady  friend,  shield- 
ing him  against  the  calumnies  of  his  enemies,  re- 
posing in  him  the  most  generous  confidence,  and 
serving  him  in  the  most  acceptable  manner,  by 
supplying  ample  resources  for  the  prosecution  of  his 
glorious  discoveries. 27 

27  Columbus,  in  a  letter  written 
on  his  third  voyage,  pays  an  honest, 
heartfelt  tribute  to  the  effectual  pat- 
ronage which  he  experienced  from 
the  queen.  "  In  the  midst  of  the 
general  incredulity,"  says  he,  "  the 
Almighty  infused  into  the  queen, 
my  lady,  the  spirit  of  intelligence 
and  energy  ;  and,  whilst  every  one 


else,  in  his  ignorance,  was  expa- 
tiating only  on  the  inconvenience 
and  cost,  her  Highness  approved  it, 
on  the  contrary,  and  gave  it  all  the 
support  in  her  power."  See  Carta 
al  Ama  del  Principe  D.  Juan,  apud 
Navarrete,  Coleccion  de  Viages, 
torn.  i.  p.  266. 


It  is  now  more  than  thirty  years 
since  the  Spanish  government  in- 
trusted Don  Martin  Fernandez  de 
Navarrete,  one  of  the  most  eminent 


scholars  of  the  country,  with  the  Navarrete. 
care  of  exploring  the  public  ar- 
chives, for  the  purpose  of  collecting 
information  relative  to  the  voyages 


134 


CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


PART  ai1(i  discoveries  of  the  early  Span- 
I.         isli  navigators.     In  1825,  Senor 

  Navarrete  gave  to  the  world  the 

first  fruits  of  his  indefatigable  re- 
searches, in  two  volumes,  the  co*n- 
mencement  of  a  series,  compre- 
hending letters,  private  journals, 
royal  ordinances,  and  other  origi- 
nal documents,  illustrative  of  the 
discovery  of  America.  These  two 
volumes  are  devoted  exclusively  to 
the  adventures  and  personal  his- 
tory of  Columbus,  and  must  be  re- 
garded as  the  only  authentic  basis, 
on  which  any  notice  of  the  great 
navigator  can  hereafter  rest.  Fortu- 
nately, Mr.  Irving's  visit  to  Spain, 
at  this  period,  enabled  the  world  to 
derive  the  full  benefit  of  Sefior 
Navarrete's  researches,  by  pre- 
senting their  results  in  connexion 
with  whatever  had    been  before 


known  of  Columbus,  in  the  lucid 
and  attractive  form,  which  engages 
the  interest  of  every  reader.  It 
would  seem  highly  proper,  that  the 
fortunes  of  the  discoverer  of  Amer- 
ica should  engage  the  pen  of  an 
inhabitant  of  her  most  favored  and 
enlightened  region  ;  and  it  is  un- 
necessary to  add,  that  the  task  has 
been  executed  in  a  manner  which 
must  secure  to  the  historian  a  share 
in  the  imperishable  renown  of  his 
subject.  The  adventures  of  Co- 
lumbus, which  form  so  splendid 
an  episode  to  the  reign  of  Ferdi- 
nand and  Isabella,  cannot  properly 
come  within  the  scope  of  its  histo- 
rian, except  so  far  as  relates  to  his 
personal  intercourse  with  the  gov- 
ernment, or  to  their  results  on  the 
fortunes  of  the  Spanish  monarchy. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 


EXPULSION  OF  THE  JEWS  FROM  SPAIN. 


1492. 


Excitement  against  the  Jews.  —  Edict  of  Expulsion.  —  Dreadful  Suf- 
ferings of  the  Emigrants.  —  Whole  number  of  Exiles.  —  Disastrous 
Results.  —  True  Motives  of  the  Edict.  —  Contemporary  Judgments. 


While  the  Spanish  sovereigns  were  detained  chapter 

xvii 

before  Granada,  they  published  their  memorable  .  

and  most  disastrous  ediet  against  the  Jews  ;  in- 
scribing it,  as  it  were,  with  the  same  pen  which 
drew  up  the  glorious  capitulation  of  Granada  and 
the  treaty  with  Columbus.  The  reader  has  been 
made  acquainted  in  a  preceding  chapter  with  the 
prosperous  condition  of  the  Jews  in  the  Peninsula, 
and  the  preeminent  consideration,  which  they  at- 
tained there  beyond  any  other  part  of  Christendom. 
The  envy  raised  by  their  prosperity,  combined  with  Excitement 
the  high  religious  excitement  kindled  in  the  long  J«ws- 
war  with  the  infidel,  directed  the  terrible  arm  of 
the  Inquisition,  as  has  been  already  stated,  against 
this  unfortunate  people  ;  but  the  result  showed  the 
failure  of  the  experiment,  since  comparatively  few 
conversions,  and  those  frequently  of  a  suspicious 
character,  were  effected,  while  the  great  mass  still 


136 


EXPULSION  OF  THE  JEWS. 


fart  maintained  a  pertinacious  attachment  to  ancient 
 errors.1 

Fomented  Under  these  circumstances,  the  popular  odium, 
ciergv.  inflamed  by  the  discontent  of  the  clergy  at  the  re- 
sistance which  thev  encountered  in  the  work  of 
proselytism,  gradually  grew  stronger  and  stronger 
against  the  unhappy  Israelites.  Old  traditions,  as 
old  indeed  as  the  thirteenth  and  fourteenth  centu- 
ries, were  revived,  and  charged  on  the  present 
generation,  with  all  the  details  of  place  and  action. 
Christian  children  were  said  to  be  kidnapped,  in 
order  to  be  crucified  in  derision  of  the  Saviour  ;  the 
host,  it  was  rumored,  was  exposed  to  the  grossest 
indignities;  and  physicians  and  apothecaries,  whose 
science  was  particularly  cultivated  by  the  Jews 
in  the  middle  ages,  were  accused  of  poisoning  their 
Christian  patients.  No  rumor  was  too  absurd  for 
the  easy  credulity  of  the  people.  The  Israelites 
were  charged  with  the  more  probable  offence  of 
attempting  to  convert  to  their  own  faith  the  ancient 
Christians,  as  well  as  to  reclaim  such  of  their  own 
race  as  had  recently  embraced  Christianity.  A 
great  scandal  was  occasioned  also  by  the  intermar- 
riages, which  still  occasionally  took  place  between 
Jews  and  Christians ;  the  latter  condescending  to 
repair  their  dilapidated  fortunes  by  these  wealthy 

1  It  is  a  proof  of  the  high  con-  tyr's,  among  many  similar  ones  by 

sideration  in  which  such  Israelites  contemporaries,  affords  the  true  key 

as  were  willing  to  embrace  Christ-  to  the  popular  odium  against  the 

ianity  were  held,  that  three  of  that  Jews.     "Cum  nainque  viderent, 

number,  Alvarez,  Avila,  and  Pul-  Judseorum  tabido  commercio,  qui 

gar  were  private  secretaries  of  the  hac  hora  sunt  in  Hispania  innume- 

queen.     (Mem.  de  la  Acad,  de  ri  Christianis  ditiorcs,  plurimoium 

Hist.,  torn.  vi.  Ilust.  18.)  animos  corrumpi  ac  seduci,  etc. 

An  incidental  expression  of  Mar-  Opus  Epist.,  epist.  (J2. 


EXPULSION  OF  THE  JEWS 


137 


alliances,  though  at  the  expense  of  their  vaunted  chapter 
purity  of  blood.2 

These  various  offences  were  urged  against  the 
Jews  with  great  pertinacity  by  their  enemies,  and 
the  sovereigns  were  importuned  to  adopt  a  more 
rigorous  policy.  The  inquisitors,  in  particular,  to 
whom  the  work  of  conversion  had  been  specially 
intrusted,  represented  the  incompetence  of  all  le- 
nient measures  to  the  end  proposed.  They  assert- 
ed, that  the  only  mode  left  for  the  extirpation  of 
the  Jewish  heresy,  was  to  eradicate  the  seed ;  and 
they  boldly  demanded  the  immediate  and  total 
banishment  of  every  unbaptized  Israelite  from  the 
land.3 

The  Jews,  who  had  obtained  an  intimation  of 
these  proceedings,  resorted  to  their  usual  crafty 
policy  for  propitiating  the  sovereigns.    They  com- 
missioned one  of  their  body  to  tender  a  donative  of 
thirty  thousand  ducats  towards  defraying  the  ex- 
penses of  the  Moorish  war.    The  negotiation  how-  y^J^gJ; 
ever  was  suddenly  interrupted  by  the  inquisitor  <iueniada- 
general,  Torquemada,  who  burst  into  the  apartment 
of  the  palace,  where  the  sovereigns  were  giving 
audience  to  the  Jewish  deputy,  and,  drawing  forth 
a  crucifix  from  beneath  his  mantle,  held  it  up,  ex- 
claiming, "  Judas  Iscariot  sold  his  master  for  thirty 


2  Paramo,  De  Origine  Inquisi- 
tionis,  p.  1G4.  —  Llorente,  Hist,  de 
l'lnquisition,  torn.  i.  cap.  7,  sec.  3. 
—  Peter  Martyr,  Opus  Epist.,  epist. 
94.  —  Ferreras,  Hist.  d'Espagne, 
torn.  viii.  p.  128. 

3  Paramo,  De  Origine  Inquisi- 
tionis,  p.  163. 

Salazar  de  Mendoza  refers  the 
vol..  II  18 


sovereign's  consent  to  the  ban- 
ishment of  the  Jews,  in  a  great 
measure,  to  the  urgent  remonstran- 
ces of  the  cardinal  of  Spain.  The 
bigotry  of  the  biographer  makes 
him  claim  the  credit  of  every  fa- 
natical act  for  his  illustrious  hero. 
See  Cron.  del  Gran  Cardenal,  p. 
250. 


138 


EXPULSION  OF  THE  JEWS. 


i'akt  pieces  of  silver.  Your  Highnesses  would  sell  him 
— ■ —  anew  for  thirty  thousand ;  here  he  is,  take  him,  and 
barter  him  away."  So  saying,  the  frantic  priest 
threw  the  crucifix  on  the  table,  and  left  the  apart- 
ment. The  sovereigns,  instead  of  chastising  this 
presumption,  or  despising  it  as  a  mere  freak  of  in- 
sanity, were  overawed  by  it.  Neither  Ferdinand 
nor  Isabella,  had  they  been  left  to  the  unbiassed 
dictates  of  their  own  reason,  could  have  sanction- 
ed for  a  moment  so  impolitic  a  measure,  which 
involved  the  loss  of  the  most  industrious  and  skilful 
portion  of  their  subjects.  Its  extreme  injustice  and 
cruelty  rendered  it  especially  repugnant  to  the 
naturally  humane  disposition  of  the  queen.4  But 
she  had  been  early  schooled  to  distrust  her  own 
reason,  and  indeed  the  natural  suggestions  of  hu- 
manity, in  cases  of  conscience.  Among  the  rever- 
end counsellors,  on  whom  she  most  relied  in  these 
matters,  was  the  Dominican  Torquemada.  The 
situation  which  this  man  enjoyed  as  the  queen's 
confessor,  during  the  tender  years  of  her  youth, 
gave  him  an  ascendency  over  her  mind,  which  must 
have  been  denied  to  a  person  of  his  savage,  fanati- 
cal temper,  even  with  the  advantages  of  this  spirit- 
ual connexion,  had  it  been  formed  at  a  riper  period 
of  her  life.  Without  opposing  further  resistance 
to  the  representations,  so  emphatically  expressed, 

4  Llorente,  Hist,  de   l'Inquisi-  the  Jews  in  Gnipuscoa  and  Toledo, 

tion,  torn.  i. chap. 7,  sect.  5.  in   1482,  plainly    intimates,  that 

Pulsar,  in  a  letter  to  the  cardi-  they  were  not  at  all  to  the  taste  of 

nal  of  Spain,  animadverting  with  the  queen.    See  Letras,  (Amstel- 

much  severity  on  the  tenor  of  cer-  odami,  1670.)  let.  31. 
tain  municipal  ordinances  against 


EXPULSION  OF  THE  JEWS. 


139 


of  the  holy  persons  in  whom  she  most  confided,  chapter 

Isabella,  at  length,  silenced  her  own  scruples,  and  _i_ 

consented  to  the  fatal  measure  of  proscription. 

The  edict  for  the  expulsion  of  the  Jews  was  Edict  of  ex- 

1  pulsion. 

signed  by  the  Spanish  sovereigns  at  Granada, 
March  30th,  1492.  The  preamble  alleges,  in  vin- 
dication of  the  measure,  the  danger  of  allowing 
further  intercourse  between  the  Jews  and  their 
Christian  subjects,  in  consequence  of  the  incorri- 
gible obstinacy,  with  which  the  former  persisted  in 
their  attempts  to  make  converts  of  the  latter  to 
their  own  faith,  and  to  instruct  them  in  their  heret- 
ical rites,  in  open  defiance  of  every  legal  prohibi- 
tion and  penalty.  When  a  college  or  corporation  of 
any  kind,  —  the  instrument  goes  on  to  state, —  is 
convicted  of  any  great  or  detestable  crime,  it  is 
right  that  it  should  be  disfranchised,  the  less  suffer- 
ing with  the  greater,  the  innocent  with  the  guilty. 
If  this  be  the  case  in  temporal  concerns,  it  is  much 
more  so  in  those,  which  affect  the  eternal  welfare 
of  the  soul.  It  finally  decrees,  that  all  unbaptized 
Jews,  of  whatever  sex,  age,  or  condition,  should 
depart  from  the  realm  by  the  end  of  July  next 
ensuing ;  prohibiting  them  from  revisiting  it,  on  any 
pretext  whatever,  under  penalty  of  death  and  con- 
fiscation of  property.  It  was,  moreover,  interdict- 
ed to  every  subject,  to  harbour,  succour,  or  minister 
to  the  necessities  of  any  Jew,  after  the  expiration 
of  the  term  limited  for  his  departure.  The  persons 
and  property  of  the  Jews,  in  the  mean  time,  were 
taken  under  the  royal  protection.  They  were  al- 
lowed to  dispose  of  their  effects  of  every  kind  on 


140 


EXPULSIOxN  OF  THE  JEWS. 


takt     their  own  account,  and  to  carry  the  proceeds  along 
-       w  ith  them,  in  bills  of  exchange,  or  merchandise  not 
prohibited,  but  neither  in  gold  nor  silver.  5 
ns  severe        The  doom  of  exile  fell  like  a  thunderbolt  on  the 

operation. 

heads  of  the  Israelites.  A  large  proportion  of 
them  had  hitherto  succeeded  in  shielding  them- 
selves from  the  searching  eye  of  the  Inquisition,  by 
an  affectation  of  reverence  for  the  forms  of  Catho- 
lic worship,  and  a  discreet  forbearance  of  what- 
ever might  offend  the  prejudices  of  their  Christian 
brethren.  They  had  even  hoped,  that  their  steady 
loyalty,  and  a  quiet  and  orderly  discharge  of  their 
social  duties,  would  in  time  secure  them  higher  im- 
munities. Many  had  risen  to  a  degree  of  opulence, 
by  means  of  the  thrift  and  dexterity  peculiar  to  the 
race,  which  gave  them  a  still  deeper  interest  in  the 
land  of  their  residence.  6  Their  families  were 
reared  in  all  the  elegant  refinements  of  life;  and 
their  wealth  and  education  often  disposed  them  to 
turn  their  attention  to  liberal  pursuits,  which  enno- 
bled the  character,  indeed,  but  rendered  them  per- 
sonally more  sensible  to  physical  annoyance,  and 
less  fitted  to  encounter  the  perils  and  privations  of 
their  dreary  pilgrimage.  Even  the  mass  of  the 
common  people,  possessed  a  dexterity  in  various 
handicrafts,  w  hich  afforded  a  comfortable  livelihood, 

5  Carbajal,  Anales,  MS.,  afio  ed  ten.  He  mentions  one,  in  par- 
1492.  — Recop.  de  las  Leyes,  lib.  ticular,  by  the  name  of  Abraham, 
8,  tit.  2,  ley  2. —  Pragmaticas  del  as  renting  t  he  greater  part  of  Cas- 
Reyno,  ed.  1520,  fol.  3.  tile!    It  will  hardly  do  to  take  the 

6  The  Curate  of  Los  Palacios  good  Curate's  statement  a  la  letlre. 
speaks  of  several  Israelites  worth  See  Reyes  Catolicos,  MS.,  cap. 
one  or  two  millions  of  maravedies,  112. 

and  another  even  as  having  amass- 


EXPULSION  OF  THE  JEWS.  141 

raising  them  far  above  similar  classes  in  most  other  chapter 

wii 

nations,  who  might  readily  be  detached  from  the  i  

soil  on  which  they  happened  to  be  cast,  with  com- 
paratively little  sacrifice  of  local  interests. 7  These 
ties' Were  now  severed  at  a  blow.  They  were  to 
go  forth  as  exiles  from  the  land  of  their  birth  ;  the 
land  w7here  all,  whom  they  ever  loved,  had  lived  or 
died  ;  the  land,  not  so  much  of  their  adoption,  as 
of  inheritance  ;  which  had  been  the  home  of  their 
ancestors  for  centuries,  and  with  whose  prosperity 
and  glory  they  were  of  course  as  intimately  asso- 
ciated, as  was  any  ancient  Spaniard.  They  were 
to  be  cast  out  helpless  and  defenceless,  with  a 
brand  of  infamy  set  on  them,  among  nations  who 
had  always  held  them  in  derision  and  hatred. 

Those  provisions  of  the  edict,  which  affected  a 
show  of  kindness  to  the  Jews,  were  contrived  so 
artfully,  as  to  be  nearly  nugatory.  As  they  were 
excluded  from  the  use  of  gold  and  silver,  the  only 
medium  for  representing  their  property  was  bills  of 
exchange.  But  commerce  was  too  limited  and  im- 
perfect to  allowT  of  these  being  promptly  obtained 
to  any  very  considerable,  much  less  to  the  enormous 
amount  required  in  the  present  instance.  It  was 
impossible,  moreover,  to  negotiate  a  sale  of  their 
effects  under  existing  circumstances,  since  the  mar- 
ket was  soon  glutted  with  commodities  ;  and  few 
would  be  found  willing  to  give  any  thing  like  an 
equivalent  for  wfhat,  if  not  disposed  of  within  the 
prescribed  term,  the  proprietors  must  relinquish  at 


7  Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catolicos,  ubi  supra. 


]  \2  EXPULSION  OF  THE  JEWS. 

part     any  rate.    So  deplorable,  indeed,  was  the  sacrifice 

 1        of  property,  that  a  chronicler  of  the  day  mentions, 

that  he  had  seen  a  house  exchanged  for  an  ass,  and 
a  vineyard  for  a  suit  of  clothes  !  In  Aragon,  matters 
were  still  worse.  The  government  there  discov- 
ered, that  the  Jews  were  largely  indebted  to  indi- 
viduals and  to  certain  corporations.  It  accordingly 
caused  their  property  to  be  sequestrated  for  the 
benefit  of  their  creditors,  until  their  debts  should 
be  liquidated.  Strange  indeed,  that  the  balance 
should  be  found  against  a  people,  who  have  been 
everywhere  conspicuous  for  their  commercial  saga- 
city and  resources,  and  who,  as  factors  of  the  great 
nobility  and  farmers  of  the  revenue,  enjoyed  at  least 
equal  advantages  in  Spain  with  those  possessed  in 
other  countries,  for  the  accumulation  of  wealth.8 
orThe Tews.  While  the  gloomy  aspect  of  their  fortunes  pressed 
heavily  on  the  hearts  of  the  Israelites,  the  Spanish 
clergy  were  indefatigable  in  the  work  of  conver- 
sion. They  lectured  in  the  synagogues  and  public 
squares,  expounding  the  doctrines  of  Christianity, 
and  thundering  forth  both  argument  and  invective 
against  the  Hebrew  heresy.  But  their  laudable 
endeavours  were  in  a  great  measure  counteracted 
by  the  more  authoritative  rhetoric  of  the  Jewish 
Rabbins,  who  compared  the  persecutions  of  their 
brethren,  to  those  which  their  ancestors  had  suf- 
fered under  Pharaoh.    They  encouraged  them  to 

8  Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catolicos,  1428,  as  amounting  to  nineteen. 

MS.,  cap.  10.  —  Zurita,  Anales,  In  Galicia  at  the  same  time  there 

torn.  v.  fol.  9.  were  but  three,  and  in  Catalonia 

Capmany  notices  the  number  of  but  one.    See  Mem.  de  Barcelona, 

synagogues  existing  in  Aragon,  in  torn.  iv.  Apend.  num.  11. 


EXPULSION  OF  THE  JEWS 


143 


persevere,  representing  that  the  present  afflictions  chapter 

were  intended  as  a  trial  of  their  faith  by  the  AJ-   XVIL 

mighty,  who  designed  in  this  way  to  guide  them  to 
the  promised  land,  by  opening  a  path  through  the 
waters,  as  he  had  done  to  their  fathers  of  old. 
The  more  wealthy  Israelites  enforced  their  exhor- 
tations by  liberal  contributions  for  the  relief  of  their 
indigent  brethren.  Thus  strengthened,  there  were 
found  but  very  few,  when  the  day  of  departure 
arrived,  who  were  not  prepared  to  abandon  their 
country  rather  than  their  religion.  This  extraordi- 
nary act  of  self-devotion  by  a  whole  people  for  con- 
science' sake  may  be  thought,  in  the  nineteenth 
century,  to  merit  other  epithets  than  those  of  "  per- 
fidy, incredulity,  and  stiff-necked  obstinacy,"  with 
which  the  worthy  Curate  of  Los  Palacios,  in  the 
charitable  feeling  of  that  day,  has  seen  fit  to  stig- 
matize it.9 

When  the  period  of  departure  arrived,  all  the  Routes  of 

1  1  'the  emi- 

principal  routes  through  the  country  might  be  seen  grants- 
swarming  with  emigrants,  old  and  young,  the  sick 
and  the  helpless,  men,  women,  and  children,  min- 
gled promiscuously  together,  some  mounted  on  hor- 
ses or  mules,  but  far  the  greater  part  undertaking 
their  painful  pilgrimage  on  foot.  The  sight  of  so 
much  misery  touched  even  the  Spaniards  with  pity, 
though  none  might  succour  them  ;  for  the  grand 
inquisitor,  Torquemada,  enforced  the  ordinance  to 
that  effect,  by  denouncing  heavy  ecclesiastical  cen- 

9  Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catolicos,  MS.,    cap.    10.    113.  —  Fen-eras, 
Hist,  d'  Espagne,  torn.  viii.  p.  131. 


1*4 


EXPULSION  OF  THE  JEWS. 


pAUT  sures  on  all  who  should  presume  to  violate  it.  The 
— . —  fugitives  Were  distributed  along  various  routes,  be- 
ing determined  in  their  destination  by  accidental 
circumstances,  much  more  than  any  knowledge  of 
the  respective  countries  to  which  they  were  bound. 
Much  the  largest  division,  amounting  according  to 
some  estimates  to  eighty  thousand  souls,  passed 
into  Portugal ;  whose  monarch,  John  the  Second, 
dispensed  with  his  scruples  of  conscience  so  far,  as 
to  give  them  a  free  passage  through  his  dominions 
on  their  way  to  Africa,  in  consideration  of  a  tax 
of  a  cruzado  a  head.  He  is  even  said  to  have 
silenced  his  scruples  so  far,  as  to  allow  certain  in- 
genious artisans  to  establish  themselves  permanent- 
ly in  the  kingdom.10 
rueir  suffer-      A  considerable  number  found  their  way  to  the 

111*19  111  J 

Africa.  ports  of  Santa  Maria  and  Cadiz,  where,  after  lin- 
gering some  time  in  the  vain  hope  of  seeing  the 
waters  open  for  their  egress,  according  to  the  prom- 
ises of  the  Rabbins,  they  embarked  on  board  a 
Spanish  fleet  for  the  Barbary  coast.  Having  crossed 
over  to  Ercilla,  a  Christian  settlement  in  Africa, 
whence  they  proceeded  by  land  towards  Fez,  where 
a  considerable  body  of  their  countrymen  resided, 
they  were  assaulted  on  their  route  by  the  roving 
tribes  of  the  desert,  in  quest  of  plunder.  Notwith- 
standing the  interdict,  the  Jews  had  contrived  to 
secrete  small  sums  of  money,  sewed  up  in  theit 

W  Zurita,  Anales,  torn.  v.  fol.  9.  Hist,  de  Portugal,  torn.  iv.  p.  95. 

—  Ferreras,  Hist.  d'Espagne,  torn.  — Mariana,  Hist,  de  Espafia,  torn, 

viii.  p.  133.  —  Bernaldez,  Reyes  ii.  p.  602. 
Catolicos,  ubi  supra.  —  La  Clede, 


EXPULSION  OF  THE  JEWS.  145 

garments  or  the  linings  of  their  saddles.  These  chapter 
did  not  escape  the  avaricious  eyes  of  their  spoilers,  XV1L 
who  are  even  said  to  have  ripped  open  the  bodies 
of  their  victims,  in  search  of  gold,  which  they  were 
supposed  to  have  swallowed.  The  lawless  barba- 
rians, mingling  lust  with  avarice,  abandoned  them- 
selves to  still  more  frightful  excesses,  violating  the 
wives  and  daughters  of  the  unresisting  Jews,  or 
massacring  in  cold  blood  such  as  offered  resistance. 
But  without  pursuing  these  loathsome  details  fur- 
ther, it  need  only  be  added,  that  the  miserable  ex- 
iles endured  such  extremity  of  famine,  that  they 
were  glad  to  force  a  nourishment  from  the  grass 
which  grew  scantily  among  the  sands  of  the  desert ; 
until  at  length  great  numbers  of  them,  wasted  by 
disease,  and  broken  in  spirit,  retraced  their  steps  to 
Ercilla,  and  consented  to  be  baptized,  in  the  hope 
of  being  permitted  to  revisit  their  native  land. 
The  number,  indeed,  was  so  considerable,  that  the 
priest  who  officiated  was  obliged  to  make  use  of 
the  mop,  or  hyssop,  with  which  the  Roman  catholic 
missionaries  were  wont  to  scatter  the  holy  drops, 
whose  mystic  virtue  could  cleanse  the  soul  in  a  mo- 
ment from  the  foulest  stains  of  infidelity.  "  Thus," 
says  a  Castilian  historian,  "  the  calamities  of  these 
poor  blind  creatures  proved  in  the  end  an  excellent 
remedy,  that  God  made  use  of  to  unseal  their  eyes, 
which  they  now  opened  to  the  vain  promises  of  the 
Rabbins  ;  so  that,  renouncing  their  ancient  heresies, 
they  became  faithful  followers  of  the  Cross  !"  11 

11  Ferreras,  Hist.  d'Espagne,  torn.  viii.  p.  133.  —  Bernaldcz,  Reyes 
Catolicos,  MS.,  cap.  113. 

VOL.  II  10 


MG 


EXPULSION  OF  THE  JEWS. 


part        Many  of  the  emigrants  took  the  direction  of  Ita- 

 ly.    Those  who  landed  at  Naples  brought  with 

countries,  them  an  infectious  disorder,  contracted  by  long 
confinement  in  small,  crowded,  and  ill-provided  ves- 
sels. The  disorder  was  so  malignant,  and  spread 
with  such  frightful  celerity,  as  to  sweep  ofT  more 
than  twenty  thousand  inhabitants  of  the  city,  in 
the  course  of  the  year,  whence  it  extended  its 
devastation  over  the  whole  Italian  peninsula. 

A  graphic  picture  of  these  horrors  is  thus  given 
by  a  Genoese  historian,  an  eyewitness  of  the 
scenes  he  describes.  u  No  one,"  he  says,  "  could 
behold  the  sufferings  of  the  Jewish  exiles  unmov- 
ed. A  great  many  perished  of  hunger,  especially 
those  of  tender  years.  Mothers,  with  scarcely 
strength  to  support  themselves,  carried  their  fam- 
ished infants  in  their  arms,  and  died  with  them. 
Many  fell  victims  to  the  cold,  others  to  intense 
thirst,  while  the  unaccustomed  distresses  incident 
to  a  sea  voyage  aggravated  their  maladies.  I  will 
not  enlarge  on  the  cruelty  and  the  avarice  which 
they  frequently  experienced  from  the  masters  of  the 
ships,  which  transported  them  from  Spain.  Some 
were  murdered  to  gratify  their  cupidity,  others 
forced  to  sell  their  children  for  the  expenses  of  the 
passage.  They  arrived  in  Genoa  in  crowds,  but 
were  not  suffered  to  tarry  there  long,  by  reason  of 
the  ancient  law  which  interdicted  the  Jewish  travel- 
ler from  a  longer  residence  than  three  days.  They 
were  allowed,  however,  to  refit  their  vessels,  and  to 
recruit  themselves  for  some  days  from  the  fatigues 
of  their  voyage.    One  might  have  taken  them  for 


EXPULSION  OF  THE  JEWS.  % 


147 


spectres,  so  emaciated  were  they,  so  cadaverous  in 
their  aspect,  and  with  eyes  so  sunken  ;  they  differ- 
ed in  nothing  from  the  dead,  except  in  the  power 
of  motion,  which  indeed  they  scarcely  retained. 
Many  fainted  and  expired  on  the  mole,  which  be- 
ing completely  surrounded  by  the  sea,  was  the  only 
quarter  vouchsafed  to  the  wretched  emigrants. 
The  infection  bred  by  such  a  swarm  of  dead  and 
dying  persons  wras  not  at  once  perceived.;  but, 
when  the  winter  broke  up,  ulcers  began  to  make 
their  appearance,  and  the  malady,  which  lurked  for 
a  long  time  in  the  city,  broke  out  into  the  plague  in 
the  following  year.  "  12 

Many  of  the  exiles  passed  into  Turkey,  and  to 
different  parts  of  the  Levant,  where  their  descend- 
ants continued  to  speak  the  Castilian  language  far 
into  the  following  century.  Others  found  their 
way  to  France,  and  even  England.  Part  of  their 
religious  services  is  recited  to  this  day  in  Spanish, 
in  one  or  more  of  the  London  synagogues  ;  and 
the  modern  Jew  still  reverts  with  fond  partiality  to 
Spain,  as  the  cherished  land  of  his  fathers,  illustrat- 
ed by  the  most  glorious  recollections  in  their  event- 
ful history. 13 


12  Senarega,  apud  Muratori,  Re- 
rum  Ital.  Script.,  torn.  xxiv.  pp. 
531,532. 

13  See  a  sensible  notice  of  He- 
brew literature  in  Spain,  in  the 
Retrospective  Review,  vol.  iii.  p. 
209.  —  Mariana,  Hist,  de  Espafia, 
torn.  ii.  lib.  26,  cap.  1.  — Zurita, 
Anales,  torn.  v.  fol.  9. 

Not  a  few  of  the  learned  exiles 
attained  to  eminence  in  those 
countries  of  Europe  where  they 


transferred  their  residence.  One 
is  mentioned  by  Castro  as  a  lead- 
ing practitioner  of  medicine  in 
Genoa  ;  another,  as  filling-  the 
posts  of  astronomer  and  chronicler, 
under  king  Emanuel  of  Portugal. 
Many  of  them  published  works  in 
various  departments  of  science, 
which  were  translated  into  the 
Spanish  and  other  European  lan- 
guages. Biblioteca  Espafiola,  torn, 
i.  pp.  359-372. 


148 


EXPULSION  OF  THE  JEWS. 


part  The  whole  number  of  Jews  expelled  from  Spain 
 —  by  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  is  variously  computed 

Whole  num-      J  .  J  r 

berof exiles,  from  one  hundred  and  sixty  thousand  to  eight 
hundred  thousand  souls  ;  a  discrepancy  sufficiently 
indicating  the  paucity  of  authentic  data.  Most 
modern  writers,  with  the  usual  predilection  for 
startling  results,  have  assumed  the  latter  estimate  ; 
and  Llorente  has  made  it  the  basis  of  some  impor- 
tant calculations,  in  his  History  of  the  Inquisition. 
A  view  of  all  the  circumstances  will  lead  us  with- 
out much  hesitation  to  adopt  the  more  moderate 
computation.  14  This,  moreover,  is  placed  beyond 
reasonable  doubt  by  the  direct  testimony  of  the 
Curate  of  Los  Palacios.  He  reports,  that  a  Jewish 
Rabbin,  one  of  the  exiles,  subsequently  returned 
to  Spain,  where  he  was  baptized  by  him.  This 
person,  whom  Bernaldez  commends  for  his  intelli- 
gence, estimated  the  whole  number  of  his  unbap- 
tized  countrymen  in  the  dominions  of  Ferdinand 

14  From  a  curious  document  in  to  670,000  or  ten  per  cent,  of  the 

the  Archives  of  Simancas ,  consist-  whole  population  of  the  kingdom, 

ing  of  a  report  made  to  the  Span-  Now  it  is  manifestly  improbahle, 

ish  sovereigns  by  their  accountant  that  so  large  a  portion  of  the  whole 

general,  Quintanilla,  in  1492,  it  nation,  conspicuous  moreover  for 

would  appear,  that  the  population  wealth  and  intelligence,  could  have 

of  the  kingdom  of  Castile,  exclu-  been  held  so  light  in  a  politi- 

sive  of  Granada,  was  then  estirnat-  cal  aspect,  as  the  Jews  certainly 

ed  at  1,500,000  vecinos,  or  house-  were,  or  have  tamely  submitted 

holders.    (See  Mem.  de  la  Acad,  for  so  many  years  to  the  most 

de  Hist.,  Apend.  no.  12.)    This,  wanton  indignities  without  resist- 

allowing  four   and   a   half  to  a  ance  ;  or  finally,  that  the  Spanish 

family,  would  make   the  whole  government  would  have  ventured 

population  6,750,000.    It  appears  on  so    bold   a  measure   as  the 

from  the  statement  of  Bernaldez,  banishment  of  so  numerous  rind 

that  the  kingdom  of  Castile  con-  powerful  a  class,  and  that  too  with 

tained   five  sixths  of  the  whole  as  few  precautions  apparently,  as 

amount  of  Jews  in  the  Spanish  would  be  required  for  driving  out 

monarch v-     This    proportion,  if  of  the  country  a  roving  gang  of 

800,000  be  received  as  the  total,  gipsies. 


wou 


Id  amount  in  round  numbers 


EXPULSION  OF  THE  JEWS. 


149 


and  Isabella,  at  the  publication  of  the  edict,  at  thirty-  chapter 

.  XVII 

six  thousand  families.     Another  Jewish  author-  — 

ity,  quoted  by  the  Curate,  reckoned  them  at  thirty- 
five  thousand.  This,  assuming  an  average  of  four 
and  a  half  to  a  family,  gives  the  sum  total  of 
about  one  hundred  and  sixty  thousand  individuals, 
agreeably  to  the  computation  of  Bernaldez.  There 
is  little  reason  for  supposing,  that  the  actual  amount 
would  suffer  diminution  in  the  hands  of  either  the 
Jewish  or  Castilian  authority;  since  the  one  might 
naturally  be  led  to  exaggerate,  in  order  to  heighten 
sympathy  with  the  calamities  of  his  nation,  and  the 
other,  to  magnify  as  far  as  possible  the  glorious 
triumphs  of  the  Cross. 15 

The  detriment  incurred  by  the  state,  however,  is  Disastrous 

J  7  results. 

not  founded  so  much  on  any  numerical  estimate,  as 
on  the  subtraction  of  the  mechanical  skill,  intelli- 
gence, and  general  resources  of  an  orderly,  indus- 
trious population.  In  this  view,  the  mischief  was 
incalculably  greater  than  that  inferred  by  the  mere 
number  of  the  exiled ;  and,  although  even  this 
might  have  been  gradually  repaired  in  a  country 
allowed  the  free  and  healthful  developement  of  its 
energies,  yet  in  Spain  this  was  so  effectually  coun- 
teracted by  the  Inquisition,  and  other  causes  in  the 
following  century,  that  the  loss  may  be  deemed 
irretrievable. 

The  expulsion  of  so  numerous  a  class  of  subjects 
by  an  independent  act  of  the  sovereign,  might  well 

15  Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catolicos,  sect.  7.  —  Mariana,  Hist,  de  Es- 
MS.,  cap.  110.  —  Llorente,  Hist,  paila,  torn.  ii.  lib.  26.  —  Zurita, 
de  l'lnquisition,  lorn.  i.  chap.  7,    Anales,  torn.  v.  fol.  9. 


150 


EXPULSION  OF  THE  JEWS. 


part     be  regarded  as  an  enormous  stretch  of  prerogative, 

  altogether  incompatible  with  any  thing  like  a  free 

government.  But  to  judge  the  matter  rightly,  we 
must  take  into  view  the  actual  position  of  the  Jews 
at  that  time.  Far  from  forming  an  integral  part  of 
the  commonwealth,  they  were  regarded  as  alien  to 
it,  as  a  mere  excrescence,  which,  so  far  from  con- 
tributing to  the  healthful  action  of  the  body  politic, 
was  nourished  by  its  vicious  humors,  and  might  be 
lopped  off  at  any  time,  when  the  health  of  the  sys- 
tem demanded  it.  Far  from  being  protected  by 
the  laws,  the  only  aim  of  the  laws,  in  reference  to 
them,  was  to  define  more  precisely  their  civil  inca- 
pacities, and  to  draw  the  line  of  division  more 
broadly  between  them  and  the  Christians.  Even 
this  humiliation  by  no  means  satisfied  the  national 
prejudices,  as  is  evinced  by  the  great  number  of 
tumults  and  massacres  of  which  they  were  the  vic- 
tims. In  these  circumstances,  it  seemed  to  be  no 
great  assumption  of  authority,  to  pronounce  sen- 
tence of  exile  against  those,  whom  public  opinion 
had  so  long  proscribed  as  enemies  to  the  state.  It 
was  only  carrying  into  effect  that  opinion,  express- 
ed as  it  had  been  in  a  great  variety  of  ways ;  and, 
as  far  as  the  rights  of  the  nation  were  concerned, 
the  banishment  of  a  single  Spaniard  would  have 
been  held  a  grosser  violation  of  them,  than  that  of 
the  whole  race  of  Israelites. 
uvwof°the  ^  nas  ^een  common  with  modern  historians  to 
detect  a  principal  motive  for  the  expulsion  of  the 
Jews,  in  the  avarice  of  the  government.  It  is  only 
necessary,  however,  to  transport  ourselves  back  to 


EXPULSION  OF  THE  JEWS 


those  times,  to  find  it  in  perfect  accordance  with  chapter 
their  spirit,  at  least  in  Spain.  It  is  indeed  incredi-  "■  '■ 
ble,  that  persons  possessing  the  political  sagacity  of 
Ferdinand  and  Isabella  could  indulge  a  temporary 
cupidity,  at  the  sacrifice  of  the  most  important  and 
permanent  interests,  converting  their  wealthiest 
districts  into  a  wilderness,  and  dispeopling  them  of  a 
class  of  citizens,  who  contributed  beyond  all  others, 
not  only  to  the  general  resources,  but  the  direct 
revenues  of  the  crown  ;  a  measure  so  manifestly 
unsound,  as  to  lead  even  a  barbarian  monarch  of 
that  day  to  exclaim,  "  Do  they  call  this  Ferdinand 
a  politic  prince,  who  can  thus  impoverish  his  own 
kingdom  and  enrich  ours!"16  It  would  seem,  in- 
deed, when  the  measure  had  been  determined  on, 
that  the  Aragonese  monarch  was  willing,  by  his 
expedient  of  sequestration,  to  control  its  opera- 
tion in  such  a  manner  as  to  secure  to  his  own 
subjects  the  full  pecuniary  benefit  of  it.17  No  im- 
putation of  this  kind  attaches  to  Castile.  The 
clause  of  the  ordinance,  wrhich  might  imply  such  a 
design,  by  interdicting  the  exportation  of  gold  and 
silver,  was  only  enforcing  a  law,  which  had  been 
already  twice  enacted  by  cortes  in  the  present 
reign,  and  which  was  deemed  of  such  moment,  that 
the  offence  was  made  capital. 18 

We  need  look  no  further  for  the  principle  of  coi.tempo- 

A  1  rary  judg- 

ments. 

16  Bajazet.  See  Abarca,  Reyes  Christian,  making  the  interests  of 
de  Aragon,  torn.  ii.  p.  310.  —  Pa-  church  and  state  mutually  subser- 
ramo,  De  Origine  Inquisitionis,  p.  vient  to  each  other  "  !  Reyes  de 
168.  Aragon,  torn.  ii.  fol.  310. 

W  "  In  truth,"  father  Abar-  ^  Once  at  Toledo,  1180,  and  at 
ca  somewhat  innocently  remarks,  Murcia,  1488.  See  Recop.  de  las 
';King  Ferdinand  was  a  politic    Leyes,  lib.  6,  tit.  18,  ley  1. 


EXPULSION  OF  THE  JEWS. 


action,  in  this  case,  than  the  spirit  of  religious 
bigotry,  which  led  to  a  similar  expulsion  of  the 
Jews  from  England,  France,  and  other  parts  of 
Europe,  as  well  as  from  Portugal,  under  circum- 
stances of  peculiar  atrocity,  a  few  years  later. 19 
Indeed,  the  spirit  of  persecution  did  not  expire 
with  the  fifteenth  century,  but  extended  far  into 
the  more  luminous  periods  of  the  seventeenth  and 
eighteenth ;  and  that,  too,  under  a  ruler  of  the  en- 
larged capacity  of  Frederic  the  Great,  whose  in- 
tolerance could  not  plead  in  excuse  the  blindness 
of  fanaticism.20  How  far  the  banishment  of  the 
Jews  was  conformable  to  the  opinions  of  the  most 
enlightened  contemporaries,  may  be  gathered  from 
the  encomiums  lavished  on  its  authors  from  more 
than  one  quarter.  Spanish  writers,  without  excep- 
tion, celebrate  it  as  a  sublime  sacrifice  of  all  tem- 
poral interests  to  religious  principle.  The  best 
instructed  foreigners,  in  like  manner,  however  they 
may  condemn  the  details  of  its  execution,  or  com- 
miserate the  sufferings  of  the  Jews,  commend  the 

!9  The  Portuguese  government  ropa  Portuguesa,  torn.  ii.  p.  496.) 

caused  all  children   of  fourteen  Mr.  Turner  has  condensed,  with 

years  of  age,  or  under,  to  be  taken  his  usual  industry,  the  most  es- 

from  their  parents  and  retained  in  sential  chronological  facts  relative 

the  country,  as  fit  subjects  for  a  to  modern  Jewish  history,  into  a 

Christian  education.    The  distress  note  contained  in  the  second  volume 

occasioned  by  this  cruel  provision  of  his  History  of  England,  pp.  114 

may  be  well  imagined.    Many  of  -  120. 

the  unhappy  parents  murdered  their  20  They  were  also  ejected  from 

children  to  defeat  the  ordinance;  Vienna,  in  1669.     The  illiberal, 

and  many  laid  violent  hands  on  and  indeed  most  cruel  legislation 

themselves.    Faria  y  Sousa  coolly  of  Frederic  II.,  in  reference  to  his 

remarks,  that  "  It  was  a  great  mis-.  Jewish  subjects,  transports  us  back 

take  in  King  Emanuel  to  think  of  to  the  darkest  periods  of  the  Visi- 

converting  any  Jew  to  Christianity,  gothic  monarchy.    The  reader  will 

old  enough  to  pronounce  the  name  find  a  summary  of  these  enactments 

of  Moses!"    He  fixes  three  years  in  the  third  volume  of  Million's 

of  age  as  the  utmost  limit.    (Eu-  agreeable  History  of  the  Jews. 


EXPULSION  OF  THE  JEWS. 


act,  as  evincing  the  most  lively  and  laudable  zeal  chapter 

.  xvii 
for  the  true  faith. 21  — - — — 

It  cannot  be  denied,  that  Spain  at  this  period  Mistaken 

'  1  x  piety  of  the 

surpassed  most  of  the  nations  of  Christendom  in  queei1, 
religious  enthusiasm,  or,  to  speak  more  correctly, 
in  bigotry.  This  is  doubtless  imputable  to  the  long 
war  with  the  Moslems,  and  its  recent  glorious  issue, 
w7hich  swelled  every  heart  with  exultation,  dispos- 
ing it  to  consummate  the  triumphs  of  the  Cross, 
by  purging  the  land  from  a  heresy,  which,  strange 
as  it  may  seem,  was  scarcely  less  detested  than 
that  of  Mahomet.  Both  the  sovereigns  partook 
largely  of  these  feelings.  With  regard  to  Isabella, 
moreover,  it  must  be  borne  constantly  in  mind,  as 
has  been  repeatedly  remarked  in  the  course  of  this 
History,  that  she  had  been  used  to  surrender  her 
own  judgment,  in  matters  of  conscience,  to  those 
spiritual  guardians,  who  were  supposed  in  that  age 
to  be  its  rightful  depositaries,  and  the  only  casuists 
who  could  safely  determine  the  doubtful  line  of 
duty.  Isabella's  pious  disposition,  and  her  trem- 
bling solicitude  to  discharge  her  duty,  at  whatever 
cost  of  personal  inclination,  greatly  enforced  the 
precepts  of  education.    In  this  way,  her  very  virtues 


21  The  accomplished  and  amiable 
Florentine,  Pico  di  Mirandola,  in 
his  treatise  on  Judicial  Astrology, 
remarks  that,  "the  sufferings  of 
the  Jews,  in  which  the  glory  of  di- 
vine justice  delighted,  were  so  ex- 
treme as  to  fill  us  Christians  with 
commiseration."  The  Genoese 
historian.  Senarega,  indeed  admits, 
that  the  measure  savoured  of  some 
slight  degree  of  cruelty.    "  Res  haec 


primo  conspectu  laudabilis  visa  est, 
quia  decus  nostrae  Religionis  re- 
spiceret,  sed  aliquantulum  in  se 
crudelitatis  continere,  si  eos  non 
belluas,  sed  homines  a  Deo  creatos, 
consideravimus."  De  Rebus  Ge- 
nuensibus,  apud  Muratori,  Rerum 
Ital.  Script.,  torn.  xxiv. — Illescas, 
Hist.  Pontif.,  apud  Paramo,  De 
Origine  Inquisitionis,  p.  167. 


VOL.  II. 


20 


154 


EXPULSION  OF  THE  JEWS. 


part  became  the  source  of  her  errors.  Unfortunately, 
she  lived  in  an  age  and  station,  which  attached  to 
these  errors  the  most  momentous  consequences.  22  — 
But  we  gladly  turn  from  these  dark  prospects  to  a 
brighter  page  of  her  history. 

22  Llorente  sums  up  his  account  of  Ferdinand,  to  the  false  ideas  and 

of  the  expulsion,  by  assigning  the  inconsiderate  zeal  with  which  they 

following  motives  to  the  principal  had  inspired  Isabella,  to  whom  his- 

agents   in   the  business.    "The  tory  cannot  refuse  the  praise  of 

measure,"  he  says,  "  may  be  refer-  great  sweetness  of  disposition,  and 

red  to  the  fanaticism  of  Torquema-  an  enlightened  mind."    Hist,  de 

ila,  to  the  avarice  and  superstition  lTnquisition,  torn.  i.  ch.  7,  sec.  10. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 


ATTEMPTED  ASSASSINATION  OF  FERDINAND — RETURN  AND 
SECOND  VOYAGE  OF  COLUMBUS. 

1492—1493. 

Attempt  on  Ferdinand's  Life.  —  Consternation  and  Loyalty  of  the  Peo- 
ple.—  Return  of  Columbus.  —  His  Progress  to  Barcelona.  —  Inter- 
views with  the  Sovereigns.  —  Sensations  caused  by  the  Discovery. — 
Regulations  of  Trade.  —  Conversion  of  the  Natives.  —  Famous  Bulls 
of  Alexander  VI.  —  Jealousy  of  Portugal.  —  Second  Voyage  of  Co- 
lumbus. —  Treaty  of  Tordesillas. 

Towards  the  latter  end  of  May,  1492,  the  Span-  chapter 
ish  sovereigns  quitted  Granada,  between  which  and  XV11L 
Santa  Fe  they  had  divided  their  time  since  the 
surrender  of  the  Moorish  metropolis.    They  were 
occupied  during  the  two  following  months  with  the 
affairs  of  Castile.     In  August  they  visited  Aragon,  The  sove- 

i  i*  i      i     •         •  •  1  ,  reigns  visit 

proposing  to  establish  their  winter  residence  there  Aragon. 
in  order  to  provide  for  its  internal  administration, 
and  conclude  the  negotiations  for  the  final  surren- 
der of  Roussillon  and  Cerdagne  by  France,  to 
which  these  provinces  had  been  mortgaged  by 
Ferdinand's  father,  John  the  Second  ;  proving  ever 
since  a  fruitful  source  of  diplomacy,  which  threat- 
ened more  than  once  to  terminate  in  open  rupture. 

Ferdinand  and  Isabella  arrived  in  Aragon  on  the 
8th  of  August,  accompanied  by  Prince  John  and  the 


156 


RE1URN  OF  COLUMBUS 


part     infantas,  and  a  brilliant  train  of  Castilian  nobles. 

 J        In  their  progress  through  the  country  they  were 

everywhere  received  with  the  most  lively  enthusi- 
asm. The  whole  nation  seemed  to  abandon  itself 
to  jubilee,  at  the  approach  of  its  illustrious  sove- 
reigns, whose  heroic  constancy  had  rescued  Spain 
from  the  detested  empire  of  the  Saracens.  After 
devoting  some  months  to  the  internal  police  of  the 
kingdom,  the  court  transferred  its  residence  to 
Catalonia,  whose  capital  it  reached  about  the  mid- 
dle of  October.  During  its  detention  in  this  place, 
Ferdinand's  career  was  wellnigh  brought  to  an  un- 
timely close.1 

Attempt  on  Jt  was  a  good  old  custom  of  Catalonia,  long  since 
!lf,>-  fallen  into  desuetude,  for  the  monarch  to  preside  in 
the  tribunals  of  justice,  at  least  once  a  week,  for 
the  purpose  of  determining  the  suits  of  the  poorer 
classes  especially,  who  could  not  afford  the  more 
expensive  forms  of  litigation.  King  Ferdinand,  in 
conformity  with  this  usage,  held  a  court  in  the 
house  of  deputation,  on  the  7th  of  December,  *being 
the  vigil  of  the  conception  of  the  Virgin.  At  noon, 
as  he  was  preparing  to  quit  the  palace,  after  the 
conclusion  of  business,  he  lingered  in  the  rear  of 
his  retinue,  conversing  with  some  of  the  officers  of 
the  court.  As  the  party  was  issuing  from  a  little 
chapel  contiguous  to  the  royal  saloon,  and  just  as 
the  king  was  descending  a  flight  of  stairs,  a  ruffian 
darted  from  an  obscure  recess  in  which  he  had 


1  Zurita,  Anales,  torn.  v.  fol.  13.  —  Oviedo,  Quincuagenas,  MS., 
bat.  1,  quinc.  1,  dial.  28 


SECOND  VOYAGE. 


157 


concealed  himself  early  in  the  morning,  and  aimed  chapter 
a  blow  with  a  short  sword,  or  knife,  at  the  back  ^  m' 
of  Ferdinand's  neck.  Fortunately  the  edge  of  the 
weapon  was  turned  by  a  gold  chain  or  collar  which 
he  wras  in  the  habit  of  wearing.  It  inflicted,  how- 
ever, a  deep  wound  between  the  shoulders.  Fer- 
dinand instantly  cried  out,  "  St.  Mary  preserve  us ! 
treason,  treason !  "  and  his  attendants,  rushing  on 
the  assassin,  stabbed  him  in  three  places  with  their 
poniards,  and  would  have  despatched  him  on  the 
spot,  had  not  the  king,  with  his  usual  presence  of 
mind,  commanded  them  to  desist,  and  take  the 
man  alive,  that  they  might  ascertain  the  real  au- 
thors of  the  conspiracy.  This  was  done  according- 
ly, and  Ferdinand,  fainting  with  loss  of  blood,  was 
carefully  removed  to  his  apartments  in  the  royal 
palace.2 

The  report  of  the  catastrophe  spread  like  wild-  onerai  co„. 

L  1  1  sternation. 

fire  through  the  city.  All  classes  were  thrown  into 
consternation  by  so  foul  an  act,  which  seemed  to 
cast  a  stain  on  the  honor  and  good  faith  of  the 
Catalans.  Some  suspected  it  to  be  the  work  of  a 
vindictive  Moor,  others  of  a  disappointed  courtier. 
The  queen,  who  had  swooned  on  first  receiving  in- 
telligence of  the  event,  suspected  the  ancient  en- 
mity of  the  Catalans,  who  had  shown  such  deter- 
mined opposition  to  her  husband  in  his  early  youth. 
She  gave  instant  orders  to  hold  in  readiness  one  of 

2  Zurita,  Anales,  torn.  v.  fol.  Abarca,  Reves  de  Aragon,  Torn.  ii. 

15.  —  Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catolicos,  fol.  315.  —  Carbajal,  Anales,  MS., 

MS.,  cap.  116.  —  Garibay,  Com-  ano  141)2. — Oviedo, Quincuagenas, 

pendio,  torn.  ii.  pp.  678,  679.—  MS.,  bat.  1,  quinc.  4,  dial.  9. 


153 


RETURN  OF  COLUMBUS. 


part     the  galleys  lying  in  the  port,  in  order  to  transport 
 ■        her  children  from  the  place,  as  she  feared  the  con- 
spiracy might  be  designed  to  embrace  other  vic- 
tims.3 

Loyalty  of       The  populace,  in  the  mean  while,  assembled  in 

the  people.  *    *  '  7 

great  numbers  round  the  palace  where  the  king  lay. 
All  feelings  of  hostility  had  long  since  given  way 
to  devoted  loyalty  towards  a  government,  which  had 
uniformly  respected  the  liberties  of  its  subjects, 
and  whose  paternal  sway  had  secured  similar  bles- 
sings to  Barcelona  with  the  rest  of  the  empire. 
They  thronged  round  the  building,  crying  out  that 
the  king  was  slain,  and  demanding  that  his  mur- 
derers should  be  delivered  up  to  them.  Ferdinand, 
exhausted  as  he  was,  would  have  presented  himself 
at  the  window  of  his  apartment,  but  was  prevented 
from  making  the  effort  by  his  physicians.  It  was 
with  great  difficulty,  that  the  people  were  at  length 
satisfied  that  he  was  still  living,  and  that  they  final- 
ly consented  to  disperse,  on  the  assurance,  that  the 
assassin  should  be  brought  to  condign  punishment, 
siowrecov-  The  king's  wound,  which  did  not  appear  dan- 
king.  gerous  at  first,  gradually  exhibited  more  alarming 
symptoms.  One  of  the  bones  was  found  to  be 
fractured,  and  a  part  of  it  was  removed  by  the  sur- 
geons.   On  the  seventh  day  his  situation  was  con- 

3  Peter  Martyr,  Opus    Epist.,  the  fifth  time  since  the  subversion 

epist.  125.  —  Bernaldez,  Reyes  Ca-  of  the  kingdom  by  the  Moors.  The 

tolicos,  MS.,  cap.  116. —  Abarca,  fourth  was  on  the  assassination  of 

Reyes  de  Aragon,  ubi  supra,  the  inquisitor  Arbues.    All  which 

The  great  bell  of  Velilla,  whose  is  established  by  a  score  of  good 

miraculous  tolling  always  announ-  orthodox  witnesses,  as  reported  by 

ced  some  disaster  to  the  monarchy,  Dr.  Diego  Dormer,  in  his  Discur- 

was  heard  to  strike  at  the  time  of  sos  Varios,  pp.  20G,  207. 
this  assault  on  Ferdinand,  being 


SECOND  VOVAGE. 


159 


sidered  extremely  critical.    During  this  time,  the  chapter 

xvni. 

((iiecn  was  constantly  by  his  side,  watching  with   

him  day  and  night,  and  administering  all  his  medi- 
cines with  her  own  hand.  At  length,  the  unfavor- 
able symptoms  yielded  ;  and  his  excellent  constitu- 
tion enabled  him  so  far  to  recover,  that  in  less  than 
three  weeks  he  was  able  to  show  himself  to  the 
eyes  of  his  anxious  subjects,  who  gave  themselves 
up  to  a  delirium  of  joy,  offering  thanksgivings  and 
grateful  oblations  in  the  churches  ;  while  many  a 
pilgrimage,  which  had  been  vowed  for  his  restora- 
tion to  health,  was  performed  by  the  good  people  of 
Barcelona,  with  naked  feet,  and  even  on  their 
knees,  among  the  wild  sierras  that  surround  the 
city. 

The  author  of  the  crime  proved  to  be  a  peasant,  punishment 

1  1  of*  the  umaa- 

about  sixty  years  of  age,  of  that  humble  class,  sin- 
de  remenza,  as  it  was  termed,  which  Ferdinand  had 
been  so  instrumental  some  few  years  since  in  re- 
leasing from  the  baser  and  more  grinding  pains  of 
servitude.  The  man  appeared  to  be  insane ;  al- 
leging in  vindication  of  his  conduct,  that  he  was 
the  rightful  proprietor  of  the  crown,  which  he  ex- 
pected to  obtain  by  Ferdinand's  death.  He  de- 
clared himself  willing,  however,  to  give  up  his  pre- 
tensions, on  condition  of  being  set  at  liberty.  The 
king,  convinced  of  his  alienation  of  mind,  would 
have  discharged  him ;  but  the  Catalans,  indignant 
at  the  reproach  which  such  a  crime  seemed  to  at- 
tach to  their  own  honor,  and  perhaps  distrusting 
the  plea  of  insanity,  thought  it  necessary  to  expiate 
it  by  the  blood  of  the  offender,  and  condemned  the 


RETURN  OF  COLUMBUS. 


part     unhappy  wretch  to  the  dreadful  doom  of  a  traitor; 
 —  the  preliminary  barbarities  of  the  sentence,  how- 
ever, were  remitted,  at  the  intercession  of  the 
queen. 4 

Return  «r        In  the  spring  of  1493,  while  the  court  was  still 

Columbus.  _  _ 

at  Barcelona,  letters  were  received  from  Christo- 
pher Columbus,  announcing  his  return  to  Spain, 
and  the  successful  achievement  of  his  great  enter- 
prise, by  the  discovery  of  land  beyond  the  western 
ocean.  The  delight  and  astonishment,  raised  by 
this  intelligence,  were  proportioned  to  the  skepti- 
cism, with  which  his  project  had  been  originally 
viewed.  The  sovereigns  were  now  filled  with  a 
natural  impatience  to  ascertain  the  extent  and  other 
particulars  of  the  important  discovery  ;  and  they 
transmitted  instant  instructions  to  the  admiral  to 
repair  to  Barcelona,  as  soon  as  he  should  have  made 
the  preliminary  arrangements  for  the  further  prose- 
cution of  his  enterprise.  5 

4L.  Marineo,  Cosas  Memorables,  if  it  were  needed,  of  her  tender- 

fol.  186.  —  Peter  Martyr,   Opus  ness  of  heart,  and  the  warmth  of 

Epist.,  epist.  125,  127, 131. — Zu-  herconjugal  attachment.  See  Cor- 

rita,  Anales,  torn.  v.  fol.  16.  —  respondencia  Epistolar,  apud  Mem. 

Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catolicos,  MS.,  de  la  Acad,  de  Hist.,  torn.  vi.  Uust. 

loc.  cit. — Garibay,  after  harrow-  13. 

ing  the  reader's  feelings  with  half       5  Herrera,  Indias  Occidentales, 

a  column  of  inhuman  cruelties  in-  dec.  1,  lib.  2,  cap.  3.  —  Mufioz, 

flicted  on  the  miserable  man,  con-  Hist,  del  Nuevo-Mundo,  lib.  4, 

eludes  with  the  comfortable  assur-  sect.  13,  14. 

ance,  "  Pero  ahogaronle  primero  Columbus  concludes  a  letter  ad- 
por  clemencia  y  misericordia  de  la  dressed,  on  his  arrival  at  Lisbon, 
Reyna."  (Compendio,  torn.  ii.  to  the  treasurer  Sanchez,  in  the 
lib.  19,  cap.  1.)  following  glowing  terms;  "Let 
A  letter  written  by  Isabella  to  processions  be  made,  festivals  held, 
her  confessor,  Fernando  de  Tala-  temples  be  filled  with  branches  and 
vera,  during  her  husband's  illness,  flowers,  for  Christ  rejoices  on  earth 
shows  the  deep  anxiety  of  her  own  as  in  Heaven,  seeing  the  future  re- 
mind, as  well  as  that  of  the  citizens  demption  of  souls.  Let  us  rejoice, 
of  Barcelona,  at  his  critical  situa-  also,  for  the  temporal  benefit  likely 
lion,  furnishing  abundant  evidence,  to  result,  not  merely  to  Spain,  but 


SECOND  VOYAGE. 


161 


The  great  navigator  had  succeeded,  as  is  well  chapter 

XVIII 

known,  after  a  voyage  the  natural  difficulties  of   

which  had  been  much  augmented  by  the  distrust  the  w^.. 


Oct.  12. 


Indies. 

and  mutinous  spirit  of  his  followers,  in  descrying  149 
land  on  Friday,  the  12th  of  October,  1492.  After 
some  months  spent  in  exploring  the  delightful  re- 
gions, now  for  the  first  time  thrown  open  to  the 
eyes  of  a  European,  he  embarked  in  the  month  of 
January,  1493,  for  Spain.  One  of  his  vessels  had 
previously  foundered,  and  another  had  deserted 
him ;  so  that  he  was  left  alone  to  retrace  his  course 
across  the  Atlantic.  After  a  most  tempestuous 
voyage,  he  was  compelled  to  take  shelter  in  the 
Tagus,  sorely  against  his  inclination. 6  He  experi- 
enced, however,  the  most  honorable  reception  from 
the  Portuguese  monarch,  John  the  Second,  who  did 
ample  justice  to  the  great  qualities  of  Columbus, 
although  he  had  failed  to  profit  by  them. 7    After  a 

to  all  Christendom."    See  Primer  Pickering,  has  pointed  out  to  me  a 

Viage  de  Colon,  apud  Navarrete,  passage  in  a  Portuguese  author, 

Coleccion  de  Viages,  torn.  i.  giving  some  particulars  of  Colum- 

6  Herrera,  Indias  Occidentales,  bus's  visit  to  Portugal.  The  pas- 
tom.  i.  dec.  1,  lib.  2,  cap.  2. —  sage,  which  I  have  not  seen  noticed 
Primer  Viage  de  Colon,  apud  Na-  by  any  writer,  is  extremely  inter- 
varrete,  Coleccion  de  Viages,  torn,  esting,  coming,  as  it  does,  from  a 
i.  — Fernando  Colon,  Hist,  del  person  high  in  the  royal  confidence, 
Almirante,  cap.  39.  and  an  eyewitness  of  what  he  re- 

The  Portuguese  historian,  Faria  lates.    "In  the  year  1493,  on  the 

y  Sousa,  appears  to  be  nettled  at  sixth  day  of  March,  arrived  in 

the  prosperous  issue  of  the  voy-  Lisbon  Christopher  Columbus,  an 

age  ;  for  he  testily  remarks,  that  Italian,  who  came  from  the  disco v- 

'  the  admiral  entered  Lisbon  with  ery,  made  under  the  authority  of 

a  vainglorious  exultation, *in  order  the  sovereigns  of  Castile,  of  the 

to  make  Portugal  feel,  by  display-  islands  of  Cipango  and  Antilia ; 

ing  the  tokens  of  his  discovery,  from  which  countries  he  brought 

how  much  she  had  erred  in  not  with  him  the  first  specimens  of  the* 

acceding  to  his  propositions."  Eu-  people,  as  well  as  of  the  gold  and 

ropa  Portuguesa,  torn.  ii.  pp.  462,  other  things  to  be  found  there  ;  and 

403.  he  was  entitled  admiral  of  them 

7  My  learned  friend,  Mr.  John  The  king,  being  forthwith  inform- 


VOL.  II  21 


162  RETURN  OF  COLUMBUS. 

part     brief  delay,  the  admiral  resumed  his  voyage,  and 

 -        crossing  the  bar  of  Saltes  entered  the  harbour  of 

Palos  about  noon,  on  the  15th  of  March,  1493,  be- 
ing exactly  seven  months  and  eleven  days  since  his 
departure  from  that  port.8 
wpuSnrof  Great  was  the  agitation  in  the  little  community 
coiumbus.  oj  Palos,  as  they  beheld  the  well-known  vessel  of 
the  admiral  reentering  their  harbour.  Their  de- 
sponding imaginations  had  long  since  consigned 
him  to  a  wratery  grave  ;  for,  in  addition  to  the 
preternatural  horrors  which  hung  over  the  voyage, 
they  had  experienced  the  most  stormy  and  disas- 
trous winter  within  the  recollection  of  the  oldest 


edof  this,  commanded  him  into  his 
presence ;  and  appeared  to  be  an- 
noyed and  vexed,  as  well  from  the 
belief  that  the  said  discovery  was 
made  within  the  seas  and  bounda- 
ries of  his  seigniory  of  Guinea, — 
which  might  give  rise  to  disputes, 
—  as  because  the  said  admiral, 
having  become  somewhat  haughty 
by  his  situation,  and  in  the  relation 
of  his  adventures  always  exceeding 
the  bounds  of  truth,  made  this  af- 
fair, as  to  gold,  silver,  and  riches, 
much  greater  than  it  was.  Espe- 
cially did  the  king  accuse  himself 
of  negligence,  in  having  declined 
this  enterprise,  when  Columbus 
first  came  to  ask  his  assistance, 
from  want  of  credit  and  confidence 
in  it.  And,  notwithstanding  the 
king  was  importuned  to  kill  him 
on  the  spot ;  since  with  his  death 
the  prosecution  of  the  undertaking, 
so  far  as  the  sovereigns  of  Castile 
were  concerned,  would  cease,  from 
want  of  a  suitable  person  to  take 
charge  of  it ;  and  notwithstanding 
this  might  be  done  without  suspi- 
cion of  the  king's  being  privy  to  it, 
—for  inasmuch  as  the  admiral  was 


overbearing  and  puffed  up  by  his 
success,  they  could  easily  bring  it 
about,  that  his  own  indiscretion 
should  appear  the  occasion  of  his 
death,  —  yet  the  king-,  as  he  was 
a  prince  greatly  fearing  God,  not 
only  forbade  this,  but  even  showed 
the  admiral  honor  and  much  fa- 
vor, and  therewith  dismissed  him." 
Ruy  de  Pina,  Chronica  d'el  Rei 
J)om  Joao  II.,  cap.  60,  apud  Collec- 
cao  de  Livros  Ineditos  de  Historia 
rortugucza,  (Lisboa,  1790-93.) 
torn.  ii. 

8  Fernando  Colon,  Hist,  del  Al- 
mirante,  cap.  40,  41. —  Charle- 
voix, Histoire  de  S.  Domingue, 
(Paris.  1730,)  torn.  i.  pp.  84-  90. 
—  Primer  Viage  de  Colon,  apud 
Navarrete,  Coleccion  de  Viages, 
torn.  i. —  La  Clede,  Hist,  de  Por- 
tugal, torn.  iv.  pp.  53-58. 

Columbus  sailed  from  Spain  on 
Friday,  discovered  land  on  Friday, 
and  reentered  the  port  of  Palos 
on  Friday.  These  curious  coinci- 
dences should  have  sufficed,  one 
might  think,  to  dispel,  especially 
with  American  mariners,  the  su- 
perstitious dread, still  so  prevalent. 


SECOND  VOYAGE. 


163 


manners. 9  Most  of  them  had  relatives  or  friends  chapter 
on  board.  They  thronged  immediately  to  the  X  1  ~ 
shore,  to  assure  themselves  with  their  own  eyes  of 
the  truth  of  their  return.  When  they  beheld  their 
faces  once  more,  and  saw  them  accompanied  by 
the  numerous  evidences  which  they  brought  back 
of  the  success  of  the  expedition,  they  burst  forth  in 
acclamations  of  joy  and  gratulation.  They  await- 
ed the  landing  of  Columbus,  when  the  whole  pop- 
ulation of  the  place  accompanied  him  and  his  crew 
to  the  principal  church,  where  solemn  thanksgivings 
were  offered  up  for  their  return ;  while  every  bell  in 
the  village  sent  forth  a  joyous  peal  in  honor  of  the 
glorious  event.  The  admiral  was  too  desirous  of 
presenting  himself  before  the  sovereigns,  to  pro- 
tract his  stay  long  at  Palos.  He  took  with  him  on 
his  journey  specimens  of  the  multifarious  pro- 
ducts of  the  newly  discovered  regions.  He  was 
accompanied  by  several  of  the  native  islanders, 
arrayed  in  their  simple  barbaric  costume,  and  de- 
corated, as  he  passed  through  the  principal  cities, 
with  collars,  bracelets,  and  other  ornaments  of  gold, 
rudely  fashioned  ;  he  exhibited  also  considerable 
quantities  of  the  same  metal  in  dust,  or  in  crude 
masses, 10  numerous  vegetable  exotics,  possessed  of 
aromatic  or  medicinal  virtue,  and  several  kinds  of 

of  commencing  a  voyage  on  that  lump  of  gold,  of  sufficient  magni- 
ominous  day.  tude  to  be  fashioned  into  a  vessel 
9  Primer  Viage  de  Colon,  Let.  2.  for  containing  the  host;  "thus," 
W  Muiioz,  Hist,  del  Nuevo-Mun-  says  Salazar  de  Mendoza,  "  con- 
do,  lib.  4,  sec.  14.  —  Fernando  verting  the  first  fruits  of  the  new 
Colon,  Hist,  del  Almirante,  cap.  dominions  to  pious  uses  "  Monar- 
41.  quia,  pp.  351,  352. 
Among  other  specimens,  was  a 


164 


RETURN  OF  COLUMBUS. 


part     quadrupeds  unknown  in  Europe,  and  birds,  whose 

 —  varieties  of  gaudy  plumage  gave  a  brilliant  effect  to 

His  progress  the  pageant.    The  admiral's  progress  through  the 

to  Barce-  r   °  I      o  O 

'on*  country  was  everywhere  impeded  by  the  multitudes 
thronging  forth  to  gaze  at  the  extraordinary  spec- 
tacle, and  the  more  extraordinary  man,  who,  in  the 
emphatic  language  of  that  time,  which  has  now  lost 
its  force  from  its  familiarity,  first  revealed  the  exis- 
tence of  a  "  Newr  World."  As  he  passed  through 
the  busy,  populous  city  of  Seville,  every  window, 
balcony,  and  housetop,  which  could  afford  a  glimpse 
of  him,  is  described  to  have  been  crowded  with 
spectators.  It  was  the  middle  of  April  before 
Columbus  reached  Barcelona.  The  nobility  and 
cavaliers  in  attendance  on  the  court,  together  with 
the  authorities  of  the  city,  came  to  the  gates  to 
receive  him,  and  escorted  him  to  the  royal  presence. 
Ferdinand  and  Isabella  were  seated,  with  their  son, 
Prince  John,  under  a  superb  canopy  of  state,  await- 
ing his  arrival.  On  his  approach,  they  rose  from 
their  seats,  and  extending  their  hands  to  him  to 
salute,  caused  him  to  be  seated  before  them.  These 
were  unprecedented  marks  of  condescension  to  a 
person  of  Columbus's  rank,  in  the  haughty  and 
ceremonious  court  of  Castile.  It  was,  indeed,  the 
proudest  moment  in  the  life  of  Columbus.  He  had 
fully  established  the  truth  of  his  long-contested 
theory,  in  the  face  of  argument,  sophistry,  sneer, 
skepticism,  and  contempt.  He  had  achieved  this, 
not  by  chance,  but  by  calculation,  supported  through 
the  most  adverse  circumstances  bv  consummate 
conduct.    The  honors  paid  him,  which  had  hitherto 


SECOND  VOYAGE. 


165 


been  reserved  only  for  rank,  or  fortune,  or  military  chapter 

XVIII 

success,  purchased  by  the  blood  and  tears  of  thou  ■  — 

sands,  were,  in  his  case,  a  homage  to  intellectual 
power,  successfully  exerted  in  behalf  of  the  noblest 
interests  of  humanity.  11 

After  a  brief  interval,  the  sovereigns  requested  53!jJ3jj* 
from  Columbus  a  recital  of  his  adventures.  His  sovereigQS- 
manner  was  sedate  and  dignified,  but  warmed  by 
the  glow  of  natural  enthusiasm.  He  enumerated 
the  several  islands  which  he  had  visited,  expatiated 
on  the  temperate  character  of  the  climate,  and  the 
capacity  of  the  soil  for  every  variety  of  agricultural 
production,  appealing  to  the  samples  imported  by 
him,  as  evidence  of  their  natural  fruitfulness.  He 
dwelt  more  at  large  on  the  precious  metals  to  be 
found  in  these  islands,  which  he  inferred,  less  from 
the  specimens  actually  obtained,  than  from  the  uni- 
form testimony  of  the  natives  to  their  abundance 
in  the  unexplored  regions  of  the  interior.  Lastly, 
he  pointed  out  the  wide  scope  afforded  to  Christian 
zeal,  in  the  illumination  of  a  race  of  men,  whose 
minds,  far  from  being  wedded  to  any  system  of 
idolatry,  were  prepared  by  their  extreme  simplicity 
for  the  reception  of  pure  and  uncorrupted  doctrine. 
The  last  consideration  touched  Isabella's  heart  most 
sensibly ;  and  the  whole  audience,  kindled  with 
various  emotions  by  the  speaker's  eloquence,  filled 


11  Peter  Martyr,  Opus  Epist., 
epist.  133,134,  140.  —  Bernaldez, 
Reyes  Oatolicos,  MS.,  cap.  118. 
—  Ferreras,  Hist.  cKEspafjne,  torn, 
viii.  pp.  141,  142.  —  Fernando 
Colon,  Hist,  del   Almirante,  ubi 


supra.  —  Zuniga,  Annales  de  Se- 
villa,  p.  413.—  Oomara,  Hist,  de 
las  Indias,  cap.  17.  —  Benzoni, 
Novi  Orbis  Hist.,  lib.  1,  cap.  8,  9. 
—  Gallo,  apud  Muratori  Rerum 
Ital.  Script.,  torn,  xxiii.  p.  203. 


166 


RETURN  OF  COLUMBUS. 


part  up  the  perspective  with  the  gorgeous  coloring  of 
 — —  their  own  fancies,  as  ambition,  or  avarice,  or  devo- 
tional feeling  predominated  in  their  bosoms.  When 
Columbus  ceased,  the  king  and  queen,  together 
with  all  present,  prostrated  themselves  on  their 
knees  in  grateful  thanksgivings,  while  the  solemn 
strains  of  the  Te  Deum  were  poured  forth  by  the 
choir  of  the  royal  chapel,  as  in  commemoration  of 
some  glorious  victory.12 
sensation       The  discoveries  of  Columbus  excited  a  sensation, 

caused  by 

thediscov-  particularly  among  men  of  science,  in  the  most  dis- 
tant parts  of  Europe,  strongly  contrasting  with  the 
apathy  which  had  preceded  them.  They  congrat- 
ulated one  another  on  being  reserved  for  an  age, 
which  had  witnessed  the  consummation  of  so  grand 
an  event.  The  learned  Martyr,  who,  in  his  mul- 
tifarious correspondence,  had  not  even  deigned  to 
notice  the  preparations  for  the  voyage  of  discovery, 
now  lavished  the  most  unbounded  panegyric  on  its 
results  ;  which  he  contemplated  with  the  eye  of  a 
philosopher,  having  far  less  reference  to  considera- 
tions of  profit  or  policy,  than  to  the  prospect  which 
they  unfolded  of  enlarging  the  boundaries  of  knowl- 
edge.13   Most  of  the  scholars  of  the  day,  however, 


12  Herrera,  Indias  Occidental., 
torn.  i.  dec.  1,  lib.  2,  cap.  3.  —  Mu- 
fioz,  Hist,  del  Nuevo-Mundo,  lib.  4, 
sec.  15,  16,  17.  — Fernando  Colon, 
Hist,  del  Almirante,  ubi  supra. 

13  In  a  letter,  written  soon  after 
the  admiral's  return,  Martyr  an- 
nounces the  discovery  to  his  cor- 
respondent, cardinal  Sforza,  in  the 
following  manner.  "  Mira  res  ex 
eo  terrarum  orbe,  quern  sol  hora- 
rum  quatuor  et  viginti  spatio  cir- 


cuit, ad  nostra  usque  tempora,  quod 
minime  te  latet,  trita  cognitaque 
dimidia  tantum  pars,  ab  Aurea  ut- 
pote  Chersoneso,  ad  Gades  nostras 
Hispanas,  reliqua  vero  a  cosmog- 
raphis  pro  incognita  relicta  est. 
Et  si  quae  mentio  facta,  ea  tenuis 
et  incerta.  Nunc  autem,  o  beatum 
facinus !  meorum  regum  auspiciis, 
quod  latuit  hactenus  a  rertim  pri- 
mordio,  intelligi  cceptum  est."  In 
a  subsequent  epistle  to  the  learned 


SECOND  VOYAGE. 


xviii. 


adopted  the  erroneous  hypothesis  of  Columbus,  who  chapter 
considered  the  lands  he  had  discovered,  as  bordering 
on  the  eastern  shores  of  Asia,  and  lying  adjacent 
to  the  vast  and  opulent  regions  depicted  in  such 
golden  colors  by  Mandeville  and  the  Poli.  This 
conjecture,  which  was  conformable  to  the  admiral's 
opinions  before  undertaking  the  voyage,  was  cor- 
roborated by  the  apparent  similarity  between  vari- 
ous natural  productions  of  these  islands,  and  of  the 
east.  From  this  misapprehension,  the  new  domin- 
ions soon  came  to  be  distinguished  as  the  West 
Indies,  an  appellation  by  which  they  are  still  recog-* 
nised  in  the  titles  of  the  Spanish  crown.14 

Columbus,  during  his  residence  at  Barcelona, 
continued  to  receive  from  the  Spanish  sovereigns 
the  most  honorable  distinctions  which  royal  bounty 
could  confer.  When  Ferdinand  rode  abroad,  he 
was  accompanied  by  the  admiral  at  his  side.  The 

Pomponio  Leto,  he  breaks  out  in  plando,  hujuscemodi  rerum  notitiat 

a  strain  of  warm  and  generous  sen-  demulceamus."  Opus  Epist.,  epist. 

timent.     "  Prae  laetitia  prosiliisse  124,  152. 

te,  vixque  a  lachrymis  pra?  gaudio  14  Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catolicos, 

temperasse,  quando  literas  adspex-  MS.,  cap.  118.  —  Gallo,  apud  Mu- 

isti  meas,  quibus  de  Antipodum  ratori,  Rerum  Ital.  Script.,  torn. 

Orbe  latenti  hactenus,  te  certiorem  xxiii.  p.  203. — Gomara,  Hist,  de 

feci,  mi  suavissime  Pomponi,  in-  las  Indias,  cap.  18. 

sinuasti.    Ex  tuis  ipse  Uteris  col-  Peter  Martyr  seems  to  have  re- 

ligo,  quid  seuseris.  Sensisti  autem,  ceived  the  popular  inference,  re- 

tantique  rem  fecisti,  quanti  virum  specting  the  identity  of  the  new 

summa  doctrina.  insignitum  decuit.  discoveries  with  the  East  Indies, 

Quis  namque  cibus  sublimibus  prae-  wi^h  some  distrust.    "  Insulas  re- 

stari  potest  ingeniis  isto  suavior  ?  perit  plures  ;  has  esse,  de  quibus  fit 

quod  condimentum  gravius?  a  me  apud  cosmographos  mentio  extra 

facio  conjecturam.     Beari  sentio  Oceanum  Orientalem,  adjacentes 

spiritus  meos,  quando  accitos  alio-  Indies  arbitrantur.    Nec  inficior  ego 

quor  prudentes  aliquos  ex  his  qui  penitus,  quamvis  sphaerae  magnitu- 

ab  ea  redeunt  provincia.  Implicent  do  aliter  sentire  videatur ;  neque 

animos  pecuniarum  cumulis  augen-  enim  desunt  qui  parvo  traclu  a  fini- 

dis  miseri  avari,  libidinibus  obscceni;  bus  Hispanis  distare  littus  Indicuni, 

nostras  nos  mentes,  postquam  Deo  putent."    Opus  Epist.,  epist.  135. 
pleni  aliquandiu  fuerimus,  contem- 


168 


RETURN  OF  COLUMBUS. 


PART 
I. 


Regulations 
of  trade. 


courtiers,  in  emulation  of  their  master,  made  fre- 
quent entertainments,  at  which  he  was  treated  with 
the  punctilious  deference  paid  to  a  noble  of  the 
highest  class.15  But  the  attentions  most  grateful 
to  his  lofty  spirit  were  the  preparations  of  the 
Spanish  court  for  prosecuting  his  discoveries,  on 
a  scale  commensurate  with  their  importance*  A 
board  was  established  for  the  direction  of  Indian 
affairs,  consisting  of  a  superintendent  and  two  sub- 
ordinate functionaries.  The  first  of  these  officers 
was  Juan  de  Fonseca,  archdeacon  of  Seville,  an 
active,  ambitious  prelate,  subsequently  raised  to 
high  episcopal  preferment,  whose  shrewdness,  and 
capacity  for  business,  enabled  him  to  maintain  the 
control  of  the  Indian  department  during  the  whole 
of  the  present  reign.  An  office  for  the  transaction 
of  business  was  instituted  at  Seville,  and  a  custom- 
house placed  under  its  direction  at  Cadiz.  This 
was  the  origin  of  the  important  establishment  of  the 
Casa  de  la  Contratacion  de  las  Indias,  or  India 
House. 16 

The  commercial  regulations  adopted  exhibit  a 
narrow  policy  in  some  of  their  features,  for  which  a 


15  Herrera,  Indias  Occidentals, 
dec.  1,  lib.  2,  cap.  3.  —  Benzoni, 
Novi  Orbis  Hist.,  lib.  1,  cap.  8. — 
Gomara,  Hist,  de  las  Indias,  cap. 
17.  —  Zufiiga,  Annales  de  Sevilla, 
p.  413.  —  Fernando  Colon,  Hist, 
del  Almirante,  ubi  supra. 

He  was  permitted  to  quarter  the 
royal  arms  with  his  own,  which 
consisted  of  a  group  of  golden  isl- 
ands amid  azure  billows.  To  these 
were  afterwards  added  live  an- 
chors, with  the  celebrated  motto, 
well  known  as  being-  carved  on  his 


sepulchre.  (See  Part  II.  Chap.  18.; 

He  received  besides,  soon  after  his 
return,  the  substantial  gratuity  of 
a  thousand  doblas  of  gold,  from  the 
royal  treasury,  and  the  premium 
of  10,000  maravedies,  promised  to 
the  person  who  first  descried  land. 
See  Navarrete,  Coleccion  de  Via- 
ges,  Col.  Diplom.,  nos.  20,  32.  38. 

10  Navarrete,  Coleccion  de  Yi- 
ages,  torn.  ii.  Col.  Diplom.,  no.  45. 
—  Mufioz,  Hist,  del  Nuevo-Mundo, 
lib.  4,  sec.  21. 


SECOND  VOYAGE  169 

justification  may  be  found  in  the  spirit  of  the  age,  chapter 

and  in  the  practice  of  the  Portuguese  particularly,  — 

but  which  entered  still  more  largely  into  the  colo- 
nial legislation  of  Spain  under  later  princes.  The 
new  territories,  far  from  being  permitted  free  inter- 
course with  foreign  nations,  were  opened  only  under 
strict  limitations  to.  Spanish  subjects,  and  were  re- 
served, as  forming,  in  some  sort,  part  of  the  exclu- 
sive revenue  of  the  crown.  All  persons  of  whatever 
description  were  interdicted,  under  the  severest 
penalties,  from  trading  with,  or  even  visiting  the 
Indies,  without  license  from  the  constituted  author- 
ities. It  was  impossible  to  evade  this,  as  a  minute 
specification  of  the  ships,  cargoes,  crews,  with  the 
property  appertaining  to  each  individual,  wTas  re- 
quired to  be  taken  at  the  office  in  Cadiz,  and  a 
corresponding  registration  in  a  similar  office  estab- 
lished at  Hispaniola.    A  more  sagacious  spirit  was  Preparations 

1  °  1  lor  a  second 

manifested  in  the  ample  provision  made  of  what-  voyas* 
ever  could  contribute  to  the  support  or  permanent 
prosperity  of  the  infant  colony.  Grain,  plants,  the 
seeds  of  numerous  vegetable  products,  which  in  the 
genial  climate  of  the  Indies  might  be  made  valuable 
articles  for  domestic  consumption  or  export,  were 
liberally  furnished.  Commodities  of  every  descrip- 
tion for  the  supply  of  the  fleet  were  exempted  from 
duty.  The  owners  of  all  vessels  throughout  the 
ports  of  Andalusia  were  required,  by  an  ordinance 
somewhat  arbitrary,  to  hold  them  in  readiness  for 
the  expedition.  Still  further  authority  was  given 
to  impress  both  officers  and  men,  if  necessary,  into 
the  service.  Artisans  of  every  sort,  provided  with 
vol.  ii.  22 


170 


RETURN  OF  COLUMBUS 


of  the  na 

fives. 


part  the  implements  of  their  various  erafts,  including  a 
  great  number  of  miners  for  exploring  the  subterra- 
neous treasures  of  the  new  regions,  were  enrolled 
in  the  expedition  ;  in  order  to  defray  the  heavy 
charges  of  which,  the  government,  in  addition  to 
the  regular  resources,  had  recourse  to  a  loan,  and  to 
the  sequestrated  property  of  the  exiled  Jews.17 
convm;on  Amid  their  own  temporal  concerns,  the  Spanish 
sovereigns  did  not  forget  the  spiritual  interests  of 
their  new  subjects.  The  Indians,  who  accompanied 
Columbus  to  Barcelona,  had  been  all  of  them  bap- 
tized, being  offered  up,  in  the  language  of  a  Cas- 
tilian  writer,  as  the  first-fruits  of  the  gentiles.  King 
Ferdinand,  and  his  son,  Prince  John,  stood  as  spon- 
sors to  two  of  them,  who  were  permitted  to  take 
their  names.  One  of  the  Indians  remained  at- 
tached to  the  prince's  establishment ;  the  residue 
were  sent  to  Seville,  whence,  after  suitable  religious 
instruction,  they  were  to  be  returned  as  missiona- 
ries for  the  propagation  of  the  faith  among  their 
own  countrymen.  Twelve  Spanish  ecclesiastics 
were  also  destined  to  this  service  ;  among  whom 
was  the  celebrated  Las  Casas,  so  conspicuous  after- 
wards for  his  benevolent  exertions  in  behalf  of  the 
unfortunate  natives.  The  most  explicit  directions 
were  given  to  the  admiral,  to  use  every  effort  for 
the  illumination  of  the  poor  heathen,  which  was 
set  forth  as  the  primary  object  of  the  expedition. 
He  was  particularly  enjoined  "  to  abstain  from  all 
means  of  annoyance,  and  to  treat  them  well  and 

•7  \nvnrrete,  Coleccion  de  Via-  dec.  1,  lib.  2,  cap.  4.  —  Mufioz, 
ges,  Col.  Diplom.,  nos.  33,  35,  45.  Hist,  del  Nuevo-Mundo,  lib.  4, 
—  Herrera,   lndias  Occidentalcs,    sec.  21. 


SECOND  VOYAGE 


171 


lovingly,  maintaining  a  familiar  intercourse  with  chapter 


XV11I. 


them,  rendering  them  all  the  kind  offices  in  his 
power,  distributing  presents  of  the  merchandise  and 
various  commodities,  which  their  Highnesses  had 
caused  to  be  embarked  on  board  the  fleet  for  that 
purpose ;  and  finally,  to  chastise,  in  the  most  exem- 
plary manner,  all  who  should  offer  the  natives  the 
slightest  molestation."  Such  were  the  instructions 
emphatically  urged  on  Columbus  for  the  regulation 
of  his  intercourse  with  the  savages ;  and  their  in- 
dulgent tenor  sufficiently  attests  the  benevolent  and 
rational  views  of  Isabella,  in  religious  matters,  when 
not  warped  by  any  foreign  influence.18 

Towards  the  last  of  May,  Columbus  quitted  Bar-  New  po* 

7  A  ers  granted 

celona  for  the  purpose  of  superintending  and  expe-  i0^olum 
diting  the  preparations  for  departure  on  his  second 
voyage.  He  was  accompanied  to  the  gates  of  the 
city  by  all  the  nobility  and  cavaliers  of  the  court. 
Orders  were  issued  to  the  different  towns,  to  pro- 
vide him  and  his  suite  with  lodgings  free  of  ex- 
pense. His  former  commission  was  not  only  con- 
firmed in  its  full  extent,  but  considerably  enlarged. 
For  the  sake  of  despatch,  he  was  authorized  to 


A8  See  the  original  instructions, 
apud  Navarrete,  Coleccion  de  Via- 
ges,  Col.  Diplom.,  no.  45.—  Mufioz, 
Hist,  del  Nuevo-Mundo,  lib.  4,  sec. 
22. — Zufiiga,  Annales  de  Sevilla, 
p.  413. 

L.  Marineo  eagerly  claims  the 
conversion  of  the  natives,  as  the 
prime  object  of  the  expedition 
with  the  sovereigns,  far  outweigh- 
ing all  temporal  considerations. 
The  passage  is  worth  quoting,  if 
only  to  show  what  egregious  blun- 
ders a  contemporary  may  make  in 


the  relation  of  events  passing,  as  it 
were,  under  his  own  eyes.  "  The 
Catholic  sovereigns  having  subju- 
gated the  Canaries,  and  established 
Christian  worship  there,  sent  Peter 
Colon,  with  thirty-five  ships,  called 
caravels,  and  a  great  number  of 
men  to  other  much  larger  islands 
abounding  in  mines  of  gold,  not  so 
much,  however,  for  the  sake  of  the 
gold,  as  for  the  salvat'on  of  the 
poor  heathen  natives. ' '  Cosas  Me- 
morables,  fol.  161. 


112 


RETURN  OF  COLUMBUS. 


part  nominate  to  all  offices,  without  application  to  gov- 
ernment ;  and  ordinances  and  letters  patent,  bearing 
the  royal  seal,  were  to  be  issued  by  him,  subscribed 
by  himself  or  his  deputy.  He  was  intrusted,  in  fine, 
with  such  unlimited  jurisdiction,  as  showed,  that, 
howeve  r  tardy  the  sovereigns  may  have  been  in 
granting  him  their  confidence,  they  were  not  dis- 
posed to  stint  the  measure  of  it,  when  his  deserts 
were  once  established. 19 
Application       Soon  after  Columbus's  return  to  Spain,  Ferdi- 

lo  Hume.  1 

nand  and  Isabella  applied  to  the  court  of  Rome, 
to  confirm  them  in  the  possession  of  their  recent 
discoveries,  and  invest  them  with  similar  extent  of 
jurisdiction  with  that  formerly  conferred  on  the 
kings  of  Portugal.  It  was  an  opinion,  as  ancient 
perhaps  as  the  crusades,  that  the  pope,  as  vicar  of 
Christ,  had  competent  authority  to  dispose  of  all 
countries  inhabited  by  heathen  nations,  in  favor 
of  Christian  potentates.  Although  Ferdinand  and 
Isabella  do  not  seem  to  have  been  fully  satisfied  of 
this  right,  yet  they  were  willing  to  acquiesce  in  its 
assumption  in  the  present  instance,  from  the  con- 
viction that  the  papal  sanction  would  most  effect- 
ually exclude  the  pretensions  of  all  others,  and 
especially  their  Portuguese  rivals.  In  their  appli- 
cation to  the  Holy  See,  they  were  careful  to  repre- 
sent their  own  discoveries  as  in  no  way  interfering 
with  the  rights  formerly  conceded  by  it  to  their 
neighbours.  They  enlarged  on  their  services  in 
the  propagation  of  the  faith,  which  they  affirmed  to 

19  See  copies  of  the  original  doc-    de  Viages,  torn,  ii.,  Col.  Diplom. 
uments,  apud  Navarrete,  Coleccion    nos.  39,  41,  42,  43. 


SECOND  VOYAGE. 


be  a  principal  motive  of  their  present  operations,  chapter 
They  intimated,  finally,  that,  although  many  com-  XVI1K 
petent  persons  deemed  their  application  to  the 
court  of  Rome,  for  a  title  to  territories  already  in 
their  possession,  to  be  unnecessary,  yet,  as  pious 
princes,  and  dutiful  children  of  the  church,  they 
were  unwilling  to  proceed  further  without  the  sanc- 
tion of  him,  to  whose  keeping  its  highest  interests 
were  intrusted.20 

The  pontifical  throne  was  at  that  time  filled  by 
Alexander  the  Sixth  ;  a  man  who,  although  de- 
graded by  unrestrained  indulgence  of  the  most  sor- 
did appetites,  was  endowed  by  nature  with  singular 
acuteness,  as  well  as  energy  of  character.  He  lent 
a  willing  ear  to  the  application  of  the  Spanish  gov- 
ernment, and  made  no  hesitation  in  granting  what 
cost  him  nothing,  while  it  recognised  the  assump- 
tion of  powers,  which  had  already  begun  to  totter 
in  the  opinion  of  mankind. 

On  the  3d  of  May,  1493,  he  published  a  bull,  Famous 

.  .  .  .  bulls  or  Al- 

in  which,  taking  into  consideration  the  eminent  exanderVT 
services  of  the  Spanish  monarchs  in  the  cause  of 
the  church,  especially  in  the  subversion  of  the  Ma- 
hometan empire  in  Spain,  and  willing  to  afford  still 
wider  scope  for  the  prosecution  of  their  pious  labors, 
he,  "out  of  his  pure  liberality,  infallible  knowledge, 
and  plenitude  of  apostolic  power,"  confirmed  them 
in  the  possession  of  all  lands  discovered,  or  here- 
after to  be  discovered  by  them  in  the  western 
ocean,  comprehending  the  same  extensive  rights  of 


20  Herrera,  Indias  Occidentals,  Hist,  del  Nuevo-Mundo,  lib.  4, 
dec.  1,  lib.  2,  cap.  4.  —  Mufioz,    sec.  18. 


174 


RETURN  OF  COLUMBUS. 


par r     jurisdiction  with  those  formerly  conceded  to  the 

.  ''  _  kings  of  Portugal. 

This  bull  he  supported  by  another,  dated  on  the 
following  day,  in  which  the  pope,  in  order  to  ob- 
viate any  misunderstanding  with  the  Portuguese, 
and  acting  no  doubt  on  the  suggestion  of  the 
Spanish  sovereigns,  defined  with  greater  precision 
the  intention  of  his  original  grant  to  the  latter,  by 
bestowing  on  them  all  such  lands  as  they  should 
discover  to  the  west  and  south  of  an  imaginary  line, 
to  be  drawn  from  pole  to  pole,  at  the  distance  of 
one  hundred  leagues  to  the  west  of  the  Azores  and 
Cape  de  Verd  Islands.21  It  seems  to  have  escaped 
his  Holiness,  that  the  Spaniards,  by  pursuing  a 
western  route,  might  in  time  reach  the  eastern 
limits  of  countries  previously  granted  to  the  Portu- 
guese. At  least  this  would  appear  from  the  import 
of  a  third  bull,  issued  September  25th  of  the  same 
year,  which  invested  the  sovereigns  with  plenary 
authority  over  all  countries  discovered  by  them, 
whether  in  the  east,  or  within  the  boundaries  of 
India,  all  previous  concessions  to  the  contrary  not- 
withstanding. With  the  title  derived  from  actual 
possession,  thus  fortified  by  the  highest  ecclesias- 
tical sanction,  the  Spaniards  might  have  promised 
themselves  an  uninterrupted  career  of  discovery, 
but  for  the  jealousy  of  their  rivals,  the  Portuguese.22 

21  A  point  south  of  the  meridian  scilicet    septentrione,  ad  Polum 

is  something  new  in  geometry;  yet  Antarcticum,  scilicet  meridiem." 
so  says  the  bull  of  his  Holiness.       ^  See  the  original  papal  grants, 

"  Omnes  insulas  et  terras  firmas  transcribed  by  Navarrete,  Coleccion 

inventas  et  inveniendas,  detectas  et  de  Viages,  torn,  ii.,  Col.  Diplom., 

detegendas,  versus  Occidentem  et  nos.  17,  18.    Appendice  al  Col. 

meridiem,  fabricando  et  constituen-  Diplom.,  no.  11. 
do  unam  lineam  a  Polo  Arctico, 


SECOND  VOYAGE. 


1  75 


The  court  of  Lisbon  viewed  with  secret  (lis-  chapter 
quietude  the  increasing  maritime  enterprise  of  its  XNm 
neighbours.  While  the  Portuguese  were  timidlv  th^Stof 
creeping  along  the  barren  shores  of  Africa,  the 
Spaniards  had  boldly  launched  into  the  deep,  and 
rescued  unknown  realms  from  its  embraces,  which 
teemed  in  their  fancies  with  treasures  of  inestimable 
wealth.  Their  mortification  was  greatly  enhanced 
by  the  reflection,  that  all  this  might  have  been 
achieved  for  themselves,  had  they  but  known  how 
to  profit  by  the  proposals  of  Columbus.23  From 
the  first  moment  in  which  the  success  of  the  admi- 
ral's enterprise  was  established,  John  the  Second, 
a  politic  and  ambitious  prince,  had  sought  some 
pretence  to  check  the  career  of  discovery,  or  at 
least  to  share  in  the  spoils  of  it.24 

In  his  interview  with  Columbus,  at  Lisbon,  he 
suggested,  that  the  discoveries  of  the  Spaniards 
might  interfere  with  the  rights  secured  to  the  Por- 
tuguese by  repeated  papal  sanctions  since  the  be- 
ginning of  the  present  century,  and  guarantied  by 
the  treaty  with  Spain,  in  1479.  Columbus,  without 
entering  into  the  discussion,  contented  himself  with 
declaring,  that  he  had  been  instructed  by  his  own 
government  to  steer  clear  of  all  Portuguese  settle- 
ments on  the  African  coast,  and  that  his  course 
indeed  had  led  him  in  an  entirelv  different  direc- 


23  Padre  Abarca  considers  "  that 
the  discovery  of  a  new  world,  first 
offered  to  the  kings  of  Portugal  and 
England,  was  reserved  by  Heaven 
for  Spain,  being  forced,  in  a  man- 
ner, on  Ferdinand,  in  recompense 


for  the  subjugation  of  the  Moors, 
and  the  expulsion  of  the  Jews!"" 
Reyes  de  Aragon,  fol.  310,  311. 

24  La  Clede,  Hist,  de  Portugal, 
torn.  iv.  pp.  53-58. 


RETURN  OF  COLUMBUS. 


tion.  Although,  John  professed  himself  satisfied 
with  the  explanation,  he  soon  after  despatehed  an 
ambassador  to  Barcelona,  who,  after  dwelling  on 
some  irrelevant  topics,  touched,  as  it  were,  inci- 
dentally on  the  real  object  of  his  mission,  the  late 
voyage  of  discovery.  He  congratulated  the  Spanish 
sovereigns  on  its  success ;  expatiated  on  the  civili- 
ties shown  by  the  court  of  Lisbon  to  Columbus,  on 
his  late  arrival  there  ;  and  acknowledged  the  satis- 
faction felt  by  his  master  at  the  orders  given  to  the 
admiral,  to  hold  a  western  course  from  the  Canaries, 
expressing  a  hope  that  the  same  course  would  be 
pursued  in  future,  without  interfering  with  the 
rights  of  Portugal  by  deviation  to  the  south.  This 
was  the  first  occasion,  on  which  the  existence  of 
such  claims  had  been  intimated  by  the  Portuguese. 

In  the  mean  while,  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  re- 
ceived intelligence  that  King  John  was  equipping  a 
considerable  armament  in  order  to  anticipate  or  de- 
feat their  discoveries  in  the  west.  They  instantly 
sent  one  of  their  household,  Don  Lope  de  Herrera, 
as  ambassador  to  Lisbon,  with  instructions  to  make 
their  acknowledgments  to  the  king  for  his  hospita- 
ble reception  of  Columbus,  accompanied  with  a  re- 
quest that  he  would  prohibit  his  subjects  from  in- 
terference with  the  discoveries  of  the  Spaniards  in 
the  west,  in  the  same  manner  as  these  latter  had 
been  excluded  from  the  Portuguese  possessions  in 
Africa.  The  ambassador  was  furnished  with  orders 
of  a  different  import,  provided  he  should  find  the 
reports  correct,  respecting  the  equipment  and  prob- 
able destination  of  a  Portuguese  armada.  Instead 


SECOND  VOYAGE 


177 


of  a  conciliatory  deportment,  he  was,  in  that  case,  chapter 
to  assume  a  tone  of  remonstrance,  and  to  demand  ..  XVI1IL 
a  full  explanation  from  king  John,  of  his  designs. 
The  cautious  prince,  who  had  received,  through  his 
secret  agents  in  Castile,  intelligence  of  these  latter 
instructions,  managed  matters  so  discreetly  as  to 
give  no  occasion  for  their  exercise.  He  abandoned, 
or  at  least  postponed  his  meditated  expedition,  in 
the  hope  of  adjusting  the  dispute  by  negotiation,  in 
which  he  excelled.  In  order  to  quiet  the  appre- 
hensions of  the  Spanish  court,  he  engaged  to  fit  out 
no  fleet  from  his  dominions  within  sixty  days ;  at 
the  same  time  he  sent  a  fresh  mission  to  Barcelona, 
with  directions  to  propose  an  amicable  adjustment 
of  the  conflicting  claims  of  the  two  nations,  by 
making  the  parallel  of  the  Canaries  a  line  of  par 
tition  between  them  ;  the  right  of  discovery  to  the 
north  being  reserved  to  the  Spaniards,  and  that  to 
the  south  to  the  Portuguese.  25 

While  this  game  of  diplomacy  was  going  on,  the  I*™*™*- 
Castilian  court  availed  itself  of  the  interval  afforded  hin,b,w 
by  its  rival,  to  expedite  preparations  for  the  second 
voyage  of  discovery  ;  which,  through  the  personal 
activity  of  the  admiral,  and  the  facilities  every- 
where afforded  him,  were  fully  completed  before 
the  close  of  September.  Instead  of  the  reluctance, 
and  indeed  avowed  disgust,  which  had  been  mani- 
fested by  all  classes  to  his  former  voyage,  the  only 

25  Faria  y  Sousa,  Europa  Portu-  lib.  4,   sec.   27,   28.  —  Mariana, 

guesa,  torn.  ii.  p.  463. — Herrera,  Hist,  de  Espafia,  torn.  ii.  pp.  006, 

Indias   Occidentals,   loc.    cit.—  607. —La  Clede,  Hist,  de  .Portu- 

Muiloz,  Hist,  del  Nuevo-Mundo  gal,  torn.  iv.  pp.  53-58-. 

VOL.  n.  23 


RETURN  OF  COLUMBUS. 


embarrassment  now  arose  from  the  difficulty  of  se- 
lection among  the  multitude  of  competitors,  who 
pressed  to  be  enrolled  in  the  present  expedition. 
The  reports  and  sanguine  speculations  of  the  first 
adventurers  had  inflamed  the  cupidity  of  many, 
which  was  still  further  heightened  by  the  exhibition 
of  the  rich  and  curious  products  which  Columbus 
had  brought  back  with  him,  and  by  the  popular  be- 
lief that  the  new  discoveries  formed  part  of  thai 
gorgeous  east, 

'*  whose  caverns  teem 
With  diamond  flaming-,  and  with  seeds  of  gold," 

and  which  tradition  and  romance  had  alike  invested 
with  the  supernatural  splendors  of  enchantment. 
Many  others  were  stimulated  by  the  wild  love  of 
adventure,  kindled  in  the  long  Moorish  war,  but 
which,  now  excluded  from  that  career,  sought  other 
objects  in  the  vast,  untravelled  regions  of  the  New 
World.  The  complement  of  the  fleet  was  original- 
ly fixed  at  twelve  hundred  souls,  which,  through 
importunity  or  various  pretences  of  the  applicants, 
was  eventually  swelled  to  fifteen  hundred.  Among 
these  were  many  who  enlisted  without  compensa- 
tion, including  several  persons  of  rank,  hidalgos,  ■ 
and  members  of  the  royal  household.  The  wrhole 
squadron  amounted  to  seventeen  vessels,  three  of 
them  of  one  hundred  tons'  burden  each.  With  this 
gallant  navy,  Columbus,  dropping  down  the  Gua- 
dalquivir, took  his  departure  from  the  bay  of  Cadiz, 
on  the  25th  of  September,  1493 ;  presenting  a 
striking  contrast  to  the  melancholy  plight,  in  which, 
but  the  year  previous,  he  sallied  forth  like  some 


SECOND  VOYAGE. 


179 


forlorn  knight-errant,  on  a  desperate  and  chimerical  chapter 

enterprise.  ^   

No  sooner  had  the  fleet  weighed  anchor,  than  Mission  to 

°  t  Portugal. 

Ferdinand  and  Isabella  despatched  an  embassy  in 
solemn  state  to  advise  the  king  of  Portugal  of  it. 
This  embassy  was  composed  of  two  persons  of 
distinguished  rank,  Don  Pedro  de  Ayala,  and  Don 
Garci  Lopez  de^Carbajal.  Agreeably  to  their  in- 
structions, they  represented  to  the  Portuguese  mon- 
arch the  inadmissibility  of  his  propositions  respecting 
the  boundary  line  of  navigation  :  they  argued  that 
the  grants  of  the  Holy  See,  and  the  treaty  with 
Spain  in  1479,  had  reference  merely  to  the  actual 
possessions  of  Portugal,  and  the  right  of  discovery 
by  an  eastern  route  along  the  coasts  of  Africa  to 
the  Indies  ;  that  these  rights  had  been  invariably 
respected  by  Spain ;  that  the  late  voyage  of  Colum- 
bus struck  into  a  directly  opposite  track ;  and  that 
the  several  bulls  of  Pope  Alexander  the  Sixth, 
prescribing  the  line  of  partition,  not  from  east  to 
west,  but  from  the  north  to  the  south  pole,  were 
intended  to  secure  to  the  Spaniards  the  exclusive 
right  of  discovery  in  the  western  ocean.  The  am- 
bassadors concluded  with  offering,  in  the  name  of 
their  sovereigns,  to  refer  the  whole  matter  in  dis- 
pute to  the  arbitration  of  the  court  of  Rome,  or  of 
any  common  umpire. 

26  Zufiiga,  Annales  de  Sevilla,  p.  dec.  1,  lib.  1.  —  Benzoni,  Novi 

413. — Fernando  Colon,  Hist,  del  Orbis  Historia,  lib.  1,  cap.  9. — 

Almirante,  cap.  44. — Bernaldez,  Gomara,  Hist,  de  las  Indias,  cap. 

Reyes  Catolicos,  MS.,  cap.  118. —  20. 
Peter  Martyr,  De  Rebus  Oceanicis 


180 


RETURN  OF  COLUMBUS. 


part        King  John  was  deeply  chagrined  at  learning  the 

 -       departure  of  the  Spanish  expedition.    He  saw  that 

5ii.of  his  rivals  had  been  acting,  while  he  had  been  amus- 
ed with  negotiation.  He  at  first  threw  out  hints  ot 
an  immediate  rupture  ;  and  endeavoured,  it  is  said, 
to  intimidate  the  Castilian  ambassadors,  by  bringing 
them  accidentally,  as  it  were,  in  presence  of  a 
splendid  airay  of  cavalry,  mounted  and  ready  for 
immediate  service.  He  vented  his  spleen  on  the 
embassy,  by  declaring,  that  "  it  was  a  mere  abor- 
tion ;  having  neither  head  nor  feet ;  "  alluding  to 
the  personal  infirmity  of  Ayala,  who  was  lame,  and 
to  the  light,  frivolous  character,  of  the  other  en- 
voy. 27 

These  symptoms  of  discontent  were  duly  noti- 
fied to  the  Spanish  government ;  who  commanded 
the  superintendent,  Fonseca,  to  keep  a  vigilant  eye 
on  the  movements  of  the  Portuguese,  and,  in  case 
any  hostile  armament  should  quit  their  ports,  to  be 
in  readiness  to  act  against  it  with  one  double  its 
force.  King  John,  however,  was  too  shrewd  a 
prince  to  be  drawn  into  so  impolitic  a  measure  as 
war  with  a  powerful  adversary,  quite  as  likely  to 
baffle  him  in  the  field,  as  in  the  council.  Neither 
did  he  relish  the  suggestion  of  deciding  the  dispute 
by  arbitration  ;  since  he  well  knew,  that  his  claim 
rested  on  too  unsound  a  basis,  to  authorize  the  ex- 
pectation of  a  favorable  award  from  any  impartial 
umpire.    He  had  already  failed  in  an  application 


27  La  Clede,  Hist,  de  Portugal,  Hist,  del  Nuevo-Mundo,  lib.  4, 
torn.  iv.  pp.  53-58.  —  Muiioz,    sec.  27,  28. 


SECOND  VOYAGE.  lg] 

for  redress  to  the  court  of  Rome,  which  answered  chapter 
him  by  reference  to  its  bulls,  recently  published.  In  XV1IL 
this  emergency,  he  came  to  the  resolution  at  last, 
which  should  have  been  first  adopted,  of  deciding 
the  matter  by  a  fair  and  open  conference.  It  was 
not  until  the  following  year,  however,  that  his  dis- 
content so  far  subsided  as  to  allow  his  acquiescence 
in  this  measure. 

At  length,  commissioners  named  by  the  two  Treaty  of 

©      7  <*  Tordesillas. 

crowns  convened  at  Tordesillas,  and  on  the  7th  of 
June,  1494,  subscribed  articles  of  agreement,  which 
were  ratified,  in  the  course  of  the  same  year,  by  the 
respective  powers.  In  this  treaty,  the  Spaniards 
were  secured  in  the  exclusive  right  of  navigation 
and  discovery  in  the  western  ocean.  At  the  urgent 
remonstrance  of  the  Portuguese,  however,  who 
complained  that  the  papal  line  of  demarcation  coop- 
ed up  their  enterprises  within  too  narrow  limits, 
they  consented,  that  instead  of  one  hundred,  it 
should  be  removed  three  hundred  and  seventy 
leagues  west  of  the  Cape  de  Verd  islands,  beyond 
which  all  discoveries  should  appertain  to  the  Span- 
ish nation.  It  was  agreed  that  one  or  two  caravels 
should  be  provided  by  each  nation,  to  meet  at  the 
Grand  Canary,  and  proceed  due  west,  the  appoint- 
ed distance,  with  a  number  of  scientific  men  on 
board,  for  the  purpose  of  accurately  determining 
the  longitude  ;  and  if  any  lands  should  fall  under 
the  meridian,  the  direction  of  the  line  should  be 
ascertained  by  the  erection  of  beacons  at  suitable 
distances.  The  proposed  meeting  never  took  place. 
But  the  removal  of  the  partition  line  was  followed 


RETURN  OF  COUJMBUS. 


by  important  consequences  to  the  Portuguese,  who 
derived  from  it  their  pretensions  to  the  noble  em- 
pire of  Brazil. 28 

Thus  this  singular  misunderstanding,  which  men- 
aced an  open  rupture  at  one  time,  was  happily 
adjusted.  Fortunately,  the  accomplishment  of  the 
passage  round  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  which 
occurred  soon  afterwards,  led  the  Portuguese  in  an 
opposite  direction  to  their  Spanish  rivals,  their 
Brazilian  possessions  having  too  little  attractions, 
at  first,  to  turn  them  from  the  splendid  path  of 
discovery  thrown  open  in  the  east.  It  was  not 
many  years,  however,  before  the  two  nations,  by 
pursuing  opposite  routes  of  circumnavigation,  were 
brought  into  collision  on  the  other  side  of  the 
globe  ;  a  circumstance  never  contemplated,  appar- 
ently, by  the  treaty  of  Tordesillas.  Their  mutual 
pretensions  were  founded,  however,  on  the  provis- 
ions of  that  treaty,  which,  as  the  reader  is  aware, 
was  itself  only  supplementary  to  the  original  bull 
of  demarcation  of  Alexander  the  Sixth. 29  Thus 
this  bold  stretch  of  papal  authority,  so  often  ridicul- 
ed as  chimerical  and  absurd,  was  in  a  measure 


28  Navarrete,  Coleccion  de  Via-  more  than  one  congress,  in  which 

ges,  Doc.  Diplom.,  no.  75. —  Faria  all  the  cosmographical  science  of 

y  Sousa,  Europa  Portuguesa,  torn,  the  day  was  put  in  requisition,  the 

ii.  p.  463.  —  Herrera,  Indias  Occi-  affair  was  terminated  a  V amiable 

dentales,  dec.  1,  lib.  2,  cap.  8,  10.  by  the  Spanish  government's  re- 

—  Mariana,  Hist,  de  Espaua,  torn,  linquishing  its  pretensions,  in  con- 

ii.  pp.  606,  607.  — LaClede,  Hist,  sideration  of  350,000  ducats,  paid 

de  Portugal,  torn.  iv.  pp.  60-62,  by  the  court  of  Lisbon.    See  La 

Zurita,  Anales,  torn.  v.  fol.  31.  Clede,  Hist,  de  Portugal,  torn.  iv. 

99  The  contested  territory  was  pp.  309,  401,  402,  480. —Mariana, 

the  Molucca  islands,  which  each  Hist,  de  Espafia,  torn.  ii.  pp.  607, 

party  claimed  for  itself,  by  virtue  875.  —  Salazar  de  Mendoza,  Mo- 

of  the  treaty  of  Tordesillas.  After  narquia,  torn.  ii.  pp.  205,  200. 


SECOND  VOYAGE. 


justified  by  the  event,  since  it  did,  in  fact,  deter-  chapter 
mine  the  principles  on  which  the  vast  extent  of  xvl11, 
unappropriated  empire  in  the  eastern  and  western 
hemispheres  was  ultimately  divided  between  two 
petty  states  of  Europe. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 


CASTILIAN  LITERATURE.  — CULTIVATION  OF  THE  COURT.— 
CLASSICAL  LEARNING.  —  SCIENCE. 

Early  Education  of  Ferdinand.  —  Of  Isabella.  —  Her  Library.  —  Earl)f 
Promise  of  Prince  John. — Scholarship  of  the  Nobles.  —  Accom- 
plished Women.  —  Classical  Learning.  —  Universities.  —  Printing 
introduced.  —  Encouraged  by  the  Queen.  —  Actual  Progress  of  Sci- 
ence. 

We  have  now  arrived  at  the  period,  when  the 
history  of  Spain  becomes  incorporated  with  that  of 
the  other  states  of  Europe.  Before  embarking  on 
the  wide  sea  of  European  politics,  however,  and 
bidding  adieu,  for  a  season,  to  the  shores  of  Spain, 
it  will  be  necessary,  in  order  to  complete  the  view 
of  the  internal  administration  of  Ferdinand  and 
Isabella,  to  show  its  operation  on  the  intellectual 
culture  of  the  nation.  This,  as  it  constitutes,  when 
taken  in  its  broadest  sense,  a  principal  end  of  all 
government,  should  never  be  altogether  divorced 
from  any  history.  It  is  particularly  deserving  of 
note  in  the  present  reign,  which  stimulated  the  ac- 
tive developernent  of  the  national  energies  in  every 
department  of  science,  and  which  forms  a  leading 
epoch  in  the  ornamental  literature  of  the  country. 
The  present  and  the  following  chapter  will  embrace 
the  mental  progress  of  the  kingdom,  not  merely 


CLASSICAL  LE ARMING.  -  SCIENCE. 


185 


down  to  the  period  at  which  we  have  arrived,  but  chapter 

•        •        •  XIX 

through  the  whole  of  Isabella's  reign,  in  order  to   ! — 

exhibit  as  far  as  possible  its  entire  results,  at  a 
single  glance,  to  the  eye  of  the  reader. 

We  have  beheld,  in  a  preceding  chapter,  the 
auspicious  literary  promise  afforded  by  the  reign  of 
Isabella's  father,  John  the  Second,  of  Castile.  Un- 
der the  anarchical  sway  of  his  son,  Henry  the  Fourth, 
the  court,  as  we  have  seen,  was  abandoned  to  un- 
bounded license,  and  the  whole  nation  sunk  into  a 
mental  torpor,  from  which  it  was  roused  only  by 
the  tumults  of  civil  war.  In  this  deplorable  state 
of  things,  the  few  blossoms  of  literature,  which  had 
begun  to  open  under  the  benign  influence  of  the 
preceding  reign,  were  speedily  trampled  under  foot, 
and  every  vestige  of  civilization  seemed  in  a  fair 
way  to  be  effaced  from  the  land. 

The  first  years  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella's  gov- 

J  O  education 

ernment  were  too  much  clouded  by  civil  dissen-  "e^lectPd- 
sions,  to  afford  a  much  more  cheering  prospect. 
Ferdinand's  early  education,  moreover,  had  been 
greatly  neglected.  Before  the  age  of  ten,  he  was 
called  to  take  part  in  the  Catalan  wars.  His  boy- 
hood was  spent  among  soldiers,  in  camps  instead 
of  schools,  and  the  wisdom  which  he  so  eminently 
displayed  in  later  life,  was  drawn  far  more  from  his 
own  resources,  than  from  books.1 

Isabella  was  reared  under  more  favorable  auspi-  Jy^Jj^™1 
ces ;  at  least  more  favorable  to  mental  culture. 
She  was  allowed  to  pass  her  youth  in  retirement, 


1  L.  Marineo,  Cosas  Memorables,  fol  153. 
VOL.  II.  24 


186 


CASTILIAN  LITERATURE. 


tart     and  indeed  oblivion,  as  far  as  the  world  was  con- 

 . —  eerned,  under  her  mother's  care,  at  Arevalo.  In 

this  modest  seclusion,  free  from  the  engrossing  van- 
ities and  vexations  of  court  life,  she  had  full  leisure 
to  indulge  the  habits  of  study  and  reflection,  to 
which  her  temper  naturally  disposed  her.  She  was 
acquainted  with  several  modern  languages,  and 
both  wrote  and  discoursed  in  her  own  with  great 
precision  and  elegance.  No  great  expense  or  soli- 
citude, however,  appears  to  have  been  lavished  on 
her  education.  She  was  uninstructed  in  the  Latin, 
which  in  that  day  was  of  greater  importance  than 
at  present ;  since  it  was  not  only  the  common  me- 
dium of  communication  between  learned  men,  and 
the  language  in  which  the  most  familiar  treatises 
were  often  composed,  but  was  frequently  used  by 
well-educated  foreigners  at  court,  and  especially 
employed  in  diplomatic  intercourse  and  negotia- 
tion.2 

Isabella  resolved  to  repair  the  defects  of  educa- 
tion, by  devoting  herself  to  the  acquisition  of  the 
Latin  tongue,  so  soon  as  the  distracting  wars  with 
Portugal,  which  attended  her  accession,  were  ter- 
minated. We  have  a  letter  from  Pulgar,  addressed 
to  the  queen  soon  after  that  event,  in  which  he  in- 
quires concerning  her  progress,  intimating  his  sur- 
prise, that  she  can  find  time  for  study  amidst  her 
multitude  of  engrossing  occupations,  and  expressing 
his  confidence  that  she  will  acquire  the  Latin  with 
the  same  facility  with  which  she  had  already  mas- 

2  L.  Marineo,  Cosas  Memorables,  fol.  154,  182. 


CLASSICAL  LEARNING. —  SCIENCE. 


187 


tered  other  languages.    The  result  justified  his  pre-  chapter 

diction;  for  "in  less  than  a  year,"  observes  another   . — 

contemporary,  "  her  admirable  genius  enabled  her 
to  obtain  a  good  knowledge  of  the  Latin  language, 
so  that  she  could  understand  without  much  diffi- 
culty whatever  was  written  or  spoken  in  it."  3 

Isabella  inherited  the  taste  of  her  father,  John' Her coiiec 

'  tion  ot 

the  Second,  for  the  collecting  of  books.  She  en-  b00k8 
dowed  the  convent  of  San  Juan  de  los  Reyes  at 
Toledo,  at  the  time  of  its  foundation,  1477,  with  a 
library  consisting  principally  of  manuscripts.4  The 
archives  of  Simancas  contain  catalogues  of  part  of 
two  separate  collections,  belonging  to  her,  whose 
broken  remains  have  contributed  to  swell  the  mag- 


3  Cairo  de  las  Donas,  lib.  2, 
cap.  62  et  seq.,  apud  Mem.  de  la 
Acad,  de  Hist.,  torn.  vi.  Ilust.  21. 
—  Pulsar,  Letras,  (Amstelodami, 
1670,)  let.  11.  —  L.  Marineo,  Co- 
sas  Memorables,  fol.  182.  —  It  is 
sufficient  evidence  of  her  familiari- 
ty with  the  Latin,  that  the  letters 
addressed  to  her  by  her  confessor 
seem  to  have  been  written  in  that 
language  and  the  Castilian  indif- 
ferently, exhibiting  occasionally  a 
curious  patchwork  in  the  alternate 
use  of  each  in  the  same  epis- 
tle. See  Correspondencia  Episto- 
lar,  apud  Mem.  de  la  Acad,  de 
Hist.,  torn.  vi.  Ilust.  13. 

4  Previous  to  the  introduction  of 
printing,  collections  of  books  were 
necessarily  very  small  and  thinly 
scattered,  owing  to  the  extreme 
cost  of  manuscripts.  The  learned 
Saez  has  collected  some  curious 
particulars  relative  to  this  matter. 
The  most  copious  library  which 
he  could  find  any  account  of,  in  the 
middle  of  the  fifteenth  century, 
was  owned  by  the  counts  of  Bena- 
vente,  and  contained  not  more  than 


one  hundred  and  twenty  volumes 
Many  of  these  were  duplicates  ; 
of  Livy  alone  there  were  eight 
copies.  The  cathedral  churches 
in  Spain  rented  their  books  every 
year  by  auction  to  the  highest  bid- 
ders, vlience  they  derived  a  con- 
siderable revenue. 

It  would  appear  from  a  copy  of 
Gratian's  Canons,  preserved  in  the 
Celestine  monastery  in  Paris,  that 
the  copyist  was  engaged  twenty- 
one  months  in  transcribing  that 
manuscript.  At  this  rate,  the  pro- 
duction of  four  thousand  copies  by 
one  hand  would  require  nearly 
eight  thousand  years,  a  work  now 
easily  performed  in  less  than  four 
months.  Such  was  the  tardiness 
in  multiplying  copies  before  the  in- 
vention of  printing.  Two  thou- 
sand volumes  may  be  procured 
now  at  a  price,  which  in  those  days 
would  hardly  have  sufficed  to  pur- 
chase fiftv.  See  Tratado  de  Mo- 
nedas  de  Enrique  III.,  apud  Mora- 
tin,  Obras,  ed.  de  la  Acad.,  (Ma- 
drid, 1830,)  torn.  i.  pp.  91, 88.  Mo- 
ratin  argues  from  extreme  cases. 


188 


CASTILIAN  LITERATURE. 


part  nificent  library  of  the  Escurial.  Most  of  them  are 
■ —  in  manuscript ;  the  richly  colored  and  highly  deco- 
rated binding  of  these  volumes  (an  art  which  the 
Spaniards  derived  from  the  Arabs)  show  how  high- 
ly they  were  prized,  and  the  worn  and  battered 
condition  of  some  of  them  prove  that  they  were 
not  kept  merely  for  show7. 5 
Tuition  or       The  queen  manifested  the  most  earnest  solici- 

the  infantas.  1 

tude  for  the  instruction  of  her  own  children.  Her 
daughters  were  endowed  by  nature  with  amiable 
dispositions,  that  seconded  her  maternal  efforts. 
The  most  competent  masters,  native  and  foreign, 
especially  from  Italy,  then  so  active  in  the  revival 
of  ancient  learning,  were  employed  in  their  tuition- 
This  was  particularly  intrusted  to  twro  brothers, 
Antonio  and  Alessandro  Geraldino,  natives  of  that 
country.  Both  were  conspicuous  for  their  abilities 
and  classical  erudition,  and  the  latter,  who  survived 
his  brother  Antonio,  was  subsequently  raised  to 
high  ecclesiastical  preferments. 6   Under  these  mas- 


5  Navagiero,  Viaggio  fatto  in 
Spagna  et  in  Francia,  (Vinegia. 
1563,)  fol.  23.  —  Mem.  de  la  Acad, 
de  Hist.,  torn.  vi.  Ilust.  17. 

The  largest  collection  comprised 
about  two  hundred  and  one  articles, 
or  distinct  works.  Of  these,  about 
a  third  is  taken  up  with  theolo- 
gy, comprehending  bibles,  psalters, 
missals,  lives  of  saints,  and  works 
of  the  fathers  ;  one  fifth,  civil  law 
and  the  municipal  code  of  Spain  ; 
one  fourth,  ancient  classics,  mod- 
ern literature,  and  romances  of 
chivalry  ;  one  tenth,  history  ;  the 
residue  is  devoted  to  ethics,  med- 
icine, grammar,  astrology,  &c. 
The  only  Italian  author,  besides 
Leonardo  Bruno  d'  Arezzo,  is  Boc- 


caccio. The  works  of  the  latter 
writer  consisted  of  the  "  Fiammet- 
ta,"  the  treatises  "  De  Casibus  II- 
lustrium  Virorum,"  and  "  De  Cla- 
ris Mulieribus,"  and  probably  the 
"Decameron";  the  first  in  the 
Italian,  and  the  three  last  translat- 
ed into  the  Spanish.  It  is  singu- 
lar, that  neither  of  Boccaccio's 
great  contemporaries,  Dante  and 
Petrarch,  the  former  of  whom  had 
been  translated  by  Villena,  and 
imitated  by  Juan  de  Mena,  half  a 
century  before,  should  have  found 
a  place  in  the  collection. 

6  Antonio,  the  eldest,  died  in 
1488.  Part  of  his  Latin  poetical 
works,  entitled,  "  Sacred  Bucol- 
ics," was  printed  in  1505,  at  Sal*- 


CLASSICAL  LEARNING.  —  SCIENCE. 


189 


ters,  the  infantas  made  attainments  rarely  permitted  chapter 

•  •  •      •  •  XIX 

to  the  sex,  and  acquired  such  familiarity  with  the   L_ 

Latin  tongue  especially,  as  excited  lively  admira- 
tion among  those  over  whom  they  were  called  to 
preside  in  riper  years. 7 

A  still  deeper  anxiety  was  shown  in  the  educa-  orprinc* 
tion  of  her  only  son,  Prince  John,  heir  of  the  united 
Spanish  monarchies.  Every  precaution  was  taken 
to  train  him  up  in  a  manner  that  might  tend  to  the 
formation  of  the  character  suited  to  his  exalted  sta- 
tion. He  was  placed  in  a  class  consisting  of  ten 
youths,  selected  from  the  sons  of  the  principal  no- 
bility. Five  of  them  were  of  his  own  age,  and  five 
of  riper  years,  and  they  were  all  brought  to  reside 


raanca.  The  younger  brother,  Al- 
essandro,  after  bearing  arms  in  the 
Portuguese  war,  was  subsequently- 
employed  in  the  instruction  of  the 
infantas,  finally  embraced  the  eccle- 
siastical state,  and  died  bishop  of 
St.  Domingo,  in  1525.  Mem.  de 
la  Acad,  de  Hist.,  torn.  vi.  Ilust. 
lfi.  —  Tiraboschi,  Letteratura  Ita- 
lians, torn.  vi.  part.  2,  p.  285. 

7  The  learned  Valencian,  Luis 
Vives,  in  his  treatise  "  De  Christia- 
na Femina,"  remarks,  "  JEfas  nos- 
ter  quatuor  illas  Isabella}  regina? 
filias,  quas  paullo  ante  memoravi, 
eruditas  vidit.  Non  sine  laudibus 
et  admiratione  refertur  mihi  passim 
in  hac  terra.  Joannam,  Philippi  con- 
jugem,  Caroli  hujus  matrem,  ex 
tempore  latinis  orationibus,  qua? 
de  more  apud  novos  principes  op- 
pidatim  habentur,  latine  respondis- 
se.  Idem  de  regina  sua,  Joanna? 
sorore,  Britanni  pradicant;  idem 
omnes  de  duabus  aliis,  quae  in  Lu- 
sitania.  fato  concessere."  (De 
Christiana  Femina,  cap.  4,  apud 
Mem.  de  la  Acad,  de  Hist.,  torn.  vi. 
Ilust.  16.) — It  appears,  however, 


that  Isabella  was  not  inattentive  to 
the  more  humble  accomplishments, 
in  the  education  of  her  daughters. 
"  Regina,"  says  the  same  author, 
"  nere,  suere,  acu  pingere  quatuor 
filias  suas  doctas  esse  voluit." 
Another  contemporary,  the  author 
of  the  Carro  de  las  Donas,  (lib.  2, 
cap.  62,  apud  Mem.  de  la  Acad, 
de  Hist.,  Ilust.  21.)  says,  "she 
educated  her  son  and  daughters, 
giving  them  masters  of  life  and 
letters,  and  surrounding  them  with 
such  persons  as  tended  to  make 
them  vessels  of  election,  and  kings 
in  Heaven." 

Erasmus  notices  the  literary  at- 
tainments of  the  youngest  daughter 
of  the  sovereigns,  the  unfortunate 
Catharine  of  Aragon,  with  unqual- 
ified admiration.  In  one  of  his 
letters,  he  styles  her  "  egrcgie  doc- 
tam  "  ;  and  in  another  he  remarks, 
"  Regina  non  tantum  in  sex  us  mi- 
raculum  literata  est ;  nec  minus 
pietate  suspicienda,  quam  eruditi- 
one."  Epistolae,  (Londini,  1642,) 
lib.  19,  epist.  3)  ;  lib.  2,  episi.  24 


190 


CASTILIAN  LITERATURE. 


fart  with  him  in  the  palace.  By  this  means,  it  was 
hoped  to  combine  the  advantages  of  public,  with 
those  of  private  education ;  which  last,  from  its 
solitary  character,  necessarily  excludes  the  subject 
of  it  from  the  wholesome  influence  exerted  by 
bringing  the  powers  into  daily  collision  with  antag- 
onists of  a  similar  age. 8 

A  mimic  council  was  also  formed  on  the  model 
of  a  council  of  state,  composed  of  suitable  persons 
of  more  advanced  standing,  whose  province  it  was 
to  deliberate  on,  and  to  discuss,  topics  connected 
with  government  and  public  policy.  Over  this 
body  the  prince  presided,  and  here  he  was  initiated 
into  a  practical  acquaintance  with  the  important 
duties,  which  were  to  devolve  on  him  at  a  future 
period  of  life.  The  pages,  in  attendance  on  his 
person,  were  also  selected  with  great  care  from  the 
cavaliers  and  young  nobilitv  of  the  court,  many  of 
whom  afterwards  filled  with  credit  the  most  consid- 
erable posts  in  the  state.  The  severer  discipline 
of  the  prince  was  relieved  by  attention  to  more 
light  and  elegant  accomplishments.  He  devoted 
many  of  his  leisure  hours  to  music,  for  which  he 
had  a  fine  natural  taste,  and  in  which  he  attained 
sufficient  proficiency  to  perform  with  skill  on  a  va- 
riety of  instruments.  In  short,  his  education  was 
happily  designed  to  produce  that  combination  of 
mental  and  moral  excellence,  which  should  fit  him 
for  reigning  over  his  subjects  with  benevolence  and 
wisdom.    How  well  the  scheme  succeeded  is  abun- 

8  Oviedo,  Quincuag-enas,  MS.,  dial,  de  Deza.  —  Mem.  de  la  Acad,  de 
Hist.,  torn.  vi.  Ilust.  14. 


CLASSICAL  LEARNING.  —  SCIENCE. 


dantly  attested  by  the  commendations  of  contcm-  chapter 

porary  writers,  both  at  home  and  abroad,  who  en-  .  .  .  . 

large  on  his  fondness  for  letters,  and  for  the  society 
of  learned  men.  on  his  various  attainments,  and 
more  especially  his  Latin  scholarship,  and  above  all 
on  his  disposition,  so  amiable,  as  to  give  promise  of 
the  highest  excellence  in  maturer  life,  —  a  promise 
alas !  most  unfortunately  for  his  own  nation,  des- 
tined never  to  be  realized.9 

Next  to  her  family,  there  was  no  object  which  ™e  queens 

J  7  care  lor  the 

the  queen  had  so  much  at  heart,  as  the  improve-  S«?^bi«.of 
ment  of  the  young  nobility.  During  the  troubled 
reign  of  her  predecessor,  they  had  abandoned  them- 
selves to  frivolous  pleasure,  or  to  a  sullen  apathy, 
from  which  nothing  was  potent  enough  to  arouse 
them,  but  the  voice  of  war. 10  She  was  obliged  to 
relinquish  her  plans  of  amelioration,  during  the  all- 
engrossing  struggle  with  Granada,  when  it  would 
have  been  esteemed  a  reproach  for  a  Spanish  knight 
to  have  exchanged  the  post  of  danger  in  the  field  for 
the  effeminate  pursuit  of  letters.  But,  no  sooner 
was  the  war  brought  to  a  close,  than  Isabella  re- 
sumed her  purpose.     She  requested  the  learned 


9  Mem.  de  la  Acad,  de  Hist., 
torn.  vi.  Ilust.  14. 

Juan  de  la  Encina,  in  the  dedi- 
cation to  the  prince,  of  his  transla- 
tion of  Virgil's  Bucolics,  pays  the 
following  compliment  to  the  en- 
lightened and  liberal  taste  of  Prince 
John.  "  Favoresceis  tanto  la  sci- 
enoia  andando  acompafiado  de  tan- 
tos  e  tan  doctisimos  varones,  que 
no  menos  dejareis  perdurable  me- 
moriade  haber  alargado  e  estendido 
los  Kmites  e  terminosde  la  sciencia 
que  los  del  imperio."    The  extra- 


ordinary promise  of  this  young 
prince,  made  his  name  known  in 
distant  parts  of  Europe,  and  his 
untimely  death,  which  occurred  in 
the  twentieth  year  of  his  age,  was 
commemorated  by  an  epitaph  of 
the  learned  Greek  exile,  Constan- 
tine  Lascaris. 

10  "  Aficionados  a  la  guerra," 
says  Oviedo,  speaking  of  some 
young  nobles  of  his  time,  "  for  su 
Espanola  y  natural  inclination." 
Quincuagenas,  MS.,  bat.  1,  quinc. 
1,  dial.  3G. 


CASTILI A  N  JTERATURE. 


Peter  Martyr,  who  had  come  into  Spain  with  the 
count  of  Tendilla,  a  few  years  previous,  to  repair  to 
the  court,  and  open  a  school  there  for  the  instruc- 
tion of  the  young  nobility. 11  In  an  epistle  ad- 
dressed by  Martyr  to  Cardinal  Mendoza,  dated  at 
Granada,  April,  1492,  he  alludes  to  the  promise  of 
a  liberal  recompense  from  the  queen,  if  he  would 
assist  in  reclaiming  the  young  cavaliers  of  the  court 
from  the  idle  and  unprofitable  pursuits,  in  which,  to 
her  great  mortification,  they  consumed  their  hours. 
The  prejudices  to  be  encountered  seem  to  have 
filled  him  with  natural  distrust  of  his  success  ;  for 
he  remarks,  "  Like  their  ancestors,  they  hold  the 
pursuit  of  letters  in  light  estimation,  considering 
them  an  obstacle  to  success  in  the  profession  of 
arms,  which  alone  they  esteem  worthy  of  honor." 
He  however  expresses  his  confidence,  that  the  gen- 
erous nature  of  the  Spaniards  will  make  it  easy  to 
infuse  into  them  a  more  liberal  taste ;  and,  in  a 
subsequent  letter,  he  enlarges  on  the  "  good  effects 
likely  to  result  from  the  literary  ambition  exhibited 
by  the  heir  apparent,  on  whom  the  eyes  of  the 
nation  were  naturally  turned."12 

Martyr,  in  obedience  to  the  royal  summons,  in- 

11  For  some  account  of  this  emi-  cultrix.  Quae  quidem  multis  et 
nent  Italian  scholar,  see  the  post-  magnis  occupata  negotiis,  ut  aliis 
script  to  Part  I.  Chap.  14,  of  this  exemplum  praeberet,  a  primis  gram- 
History,  maticae  rudimentis  studere  ccepit, 

W  Peter  Martyr,  Opus  Epist.,  et  omnes  suae  domAs  adolescentes 

epist.  102,  103.  utriusque  sexus  nobilium  liberos, 

Lucio  Marineo,  in  a  discourse  praceptoribus  liberaliter  et  honori- 

addressed  to  Charles  V.,  thus  no-  fice  conductis  erudiendos  commen- 

tices  the  queen's  solicitude  for  the  dabat."    Mem.  de  la  Acad,  de 

instruction  of  her  young  nobility  Hist.,  torn.  vi.  Apend.  16.  —  See 

"  Isabella  praesertim  Regina  mag-  also  Oviedo,  Quincuagenas,  MS., 

nanima,  virtutum  omnium  maxima  bat.  1,  quinc.  1,  dial.  36. 


CLASSICAL  LEARNING.  —  SCIENCE.  193 

stantly  repaired  to  court,  and  in  the  month  of  chapter 
September  following,  we  have  a  letter  dated  from  — X1X' 
Saragossa,  in  which  he  thus  speaks  of  his  success.  Martyr. 
"  My  house,  all  day  long,  swarms  with  noble 
youths,  who,  reclaimed  from  ignoble  pursuits  to 
those  of  letters,  are  now  convinced  that  these,  so 
far  from  being  a  hindrance,  are  rather  a  help  in  the 
profession  of  arms  I  earnestly  inculcate  on  them, 
that  consummate  excellence  in  any  department, 
whether  of  war  or  peace,  is  unattainable  without 
science.  It  has  pleased  our  royal  mistress,  the 
pattern  of  every  exalted  virtue,  that  her  own  near 
kinsman,  the  duke  of  Guimaraens,  as  well  as  the 
young  duke  of  Villahermosa,  the  king's  nephew, 
should  Remain  under  my  roof  during  the  whole  day; 
an  example  which  has  been  imitated  by  the  princi- 
pal cavaliers  of  the  court,  who,  after  attending  my 
lectures  in  company  with  their  private  tutors,  retire 
at  evening  to  review  them  with  these  latter  in  their 
own  quarters  " 13 

Another  Italian  scholar,  often  cited  as  authority  orLudoMe- 

J  rineo. 

in  the  preceding  portion  of  this  work,  Lucio  Mari- 
neo  Siculo,  cooperated  with  Martyr  in  the  intro- 
duction of  a  more  liberal  scholarship  among  the 
Castilian  nobles.  He  was  born  at  Bedino  in  Sicily, 
and,  after  completing  his  studies  at  Rome  under  the 
celebrated  Pomponio  Leto,  opened  a  school  in  his 
native  island,  where  he  continued  to  teach  for  five 
years.  He  was  then  induced  to  visit  Spain,  in 
1486,  with  the  admiral  Henriquez,  and  soon  took 


13  Peter  Martyr,  Opus  Epist.,  epist.  115 
VOL    II.  25 


194 


CASTIHAN  LITERATURE. 


his  place  among  the  professors  of  Salamanca,  wjiere 
he  filled  the  chairs  of  poetry  and  grammar  with 
great  applause  for  twelve  years.  He  was  subse- 
quently transferred  to  the  court,  which  he  helped 
to  illumine,  by  his  exposition  of  the  ancient  classics, 
particularly  the  Latin.14  Under  the  auspices  of 
these  and  other  eminent  scholars,  both  native  and 
foreign,  the  young  nobility  of  Castile  shook  off  the 
indolence  in  which  they  had  so  long  rusted,  and 
applied  with  generous  ardor  to  the  cultivation  of 
science  ;  so  that,  in  the  language  of  a  contempo- 
rary, "  while  it  was  a  most  rare  occurrence,  to  meet 
with  a  person  of  illustrious  birth,  before  the  present 
reign,  who  had  even  studied  Latin  in  his  youth, 
there  were  now  to  be  seen  numbers  every  dfey,  who 
sought  to  shed  the  lustre  of  letters  over  the  martial 
glory  inherited  from  their  ancestors."  15 


14  A  particular  account  of  Mari- 
neo's  writings  may  be  found  in  Nic. 
Antonio.  (Bibliotheca  Nova,  torn, 
ii.  Apend.  p.  369.)  The  most  im- 
portant of  these,  is  his  work  "De 
Rebus  Hispania)  Memorabilibus," 
often  cited,  in  the  Castilian,  in  this 
History.  It  is  a  rich  repository  of 
details  respecting  the  geography, 
statistics,  and  manners  of  the  Pen- 
insula, with  a  copious  historical 
notice  of  events  in  Ferdinand  and 
Isabella's.reign.  The  author's  in- 
satiable curiosity,  during  a  long 
residence  in  the  country,  enabled 
him  to  collect  many  facts,  of  a  kind 
that  do  not  fall  within  the  ordinary 
compass  of  history  ;  while  his  ex- 
tensive learning,  and  his  familiarity 
with  foreign  models,  peculiarly 
qualified  him  for  estimating  the  in- 
stitutions he  describes.  It  must  be 
confessed  he  is  sufficiently  partial 
to  the  land  of  his  adoption.  The 


edition,  referred  to  in  this  work,  is 
in  black  letter,  printed  before,  or 
soon  after,  the  author's  death  (the 
date  of  which  is  uncertain),  in  1539, 
at  Alcala  de  Henares,  by  Juan 
Brocar,  one  of  a  family  long  cele- 
brated in  the  annals  of  Castilian 
printing.  Marineo's  prologue  con- 
cludes with  the  following  noble 
tribute  to  letters.  "  Porque  todos 
los  otros  bienes  son  subjectos  a  la 
fortuna  y  mudables  y  en  poco  tiem- 
po  mudan  muchos  dueilos  passando 
de  unos  sefiores  en  otros,  mas  los 
dones  de  letras  y  hystorias  que  se 
ofrescen  para  perpetuidad  de  me- 
moria  y  fama  son  immortales  y 
prorogan  y  guardan  paia  siempre 
la  memoria  assi  de  los  que  los  reci- 
ben,  como  de  los  que  los  ofrescen." 

15  Sepulveda,  Dcmocrites,  apud 
Mem.  de  la  Acad,  de  Hist.,  torn, 
vi.  Bust.  16.  —  Signorelli,  Coltura 
nelle  Sicilie,  torn.  iv.  p.  318. — 


CLASSICAL  LEARNING. —  SCIENCE 


195 


The  extent  of  this  generous  emulation  may  be  chapter 

gathered  from  the  large  correspondence  both  of  _XIXj  

Martyr  and  Marineo  with  their  disciples,  including  orXeS? 
the  most  considerable  persons  of  the  Castilian 
court;  it  may  be  still  further  inferred  from  the 
numerous  dedications  to  these  persons,  of  contem- 
porary publications,  attesting  their  munificent  pa- 
tronage of  literary  enterprise  ; 16  and,  still  more  un- 
equivocally, from  the  zeal  with  which  many  of  the 
highest  rank  entered  on  such  severe  literary  labor 
as  few,  from  the  mere  love  of  letters,  are  found 
willing  to  encounter.  Don  Gutierre  de  Toledo, 
son  of  the  duke  of  Alva,  and  a  cousin  of  the  king, 
taught  in  the  university  of  Salamanca.  At  the 
same  place,  Don  Pedro  Fernandez  de  Velasco,  son 
of  the  count  of  Haro,  who  subsequently  succeeded 
his  father  in  the  hereditary  dignity  of  grand  con- 
stable of  Castile,  read  lectures  on  Pliny  and  Ovid. 
Don  Alfonso  de  Manrique,  son  of  the  count  of 
Paredes,  was  professor  of  Greek  in  the  university 
of  Alcala.  All  ages  seemed  to  catch  the  generous 
enthusiasm  ;  and  the  marquis  of  Denia,  although 

Tiraboschi,   Letteratura  Italiana,  historian    of  Spanish  literature, 

torn.  vii.  part.  3,  lib.  3,  cap.  4. —  Tiraboschi  must  be  admitted  to 

Comp.  Lampillas,  Saggio  Storico-  have  the  better  of  his  antagonist 

Apologetico    de    la    Letteratura  in  temper,  if  not  in  argument. 

Spagnuola,  (Genova,  1778,)  torn.  16  Among  these  we  find  copious 

ii.  dis.  2,  sect.  5.  —  The  patriotic  translations  from  the  ancient  clas- 

Abate  is  greatly  scandalized  by  the  sics,  as  Caesar,  Appian,  Plutarch, 

degree  of  influence,  which  Tira-  Plautus,  Sallust,  iEsop,  Justin, 

boschi  and  other  Italian  critics  as-  Boetliius,  Apulius,  Herodian,  af- 

cribe  to  their  own  language  over  fording  strong  evidence  of  the  ac- 

the  Castilian,    especially  at  this  tivity  of  the  Castilian  scholars  in 

period.     The  seven  volumes,  in  this  department.  Mem.  de  la  Acad, 

which  he  has  discharged  his  bile  de  Hist.,  torn.  vi.  pp.  406,  407. — 

on  the  heads  of  the    offenders,  Mendez,  Typographia  Espafiola, 

afford  valuable  materials  for  the  pp.  133,  139. 


196 


CASTILIAN  LITERATURE. 


PART 


Accomplish- 
ed women. 


turned  of  sixty,  made  amends  for  the  sins  of  his 
youth,  by  learning  the  elements  of  the  Latin  tongue, 
at  this  late  period.  In  short,  as  Giovio  remarks  in 
his  eulogium  on  Lebrija,  "No  Spaniard  was  ac- 
counted noble  who  held  science  in  indifference." 
From  a  very  early  period,  a  courtly  stamp  was  im- 
pressed on  the  poetic  literature  of  Spain.  A  similar 
character  was  now  imparted  to  its  erudition  ;  and 
men  of  the  most  illustrious  birth  seemed  eager  to 
lead  the  way  in  the  difficult  career  of  science, 
which  was  thrown  open  to  the  nation.  17 

In  this  brilliant  exhibition,  those  of  the  other  sex 
must  not  be  omitted,  who  contributed  by  their  in- 
tellectual endowments  to  the  general  illumination 
of  the  period.  Among  them,  the  writers  of  that 
day  lavish  their  panegyrics  on  the  marchioness  of 
Monteagudo,  and  DoSa  Maria  Pacheco,  of  the  an- 
cient house  of  Mendoza,  sisters  of  the  historian, 
Don  Diego  Hurtado,  18  and  daughters  of  the  ac- 
complished count  of  Tendilla, 19  who,  while  ambas- 


17  Salazar  de  Mendoza,  Digni- 
dades,  cap.  21. 

Lucio  Marineo  Siculo,  in  his  dis- 
course above  alluded  to,  in  which 
he  exhibits  the  condition  of  letters 
under  the  reign  of  Ferdinand  and 
Isabella,  enumerates  the  names  of 
the  nobility  most  conspicuous  for 
their  scholarship.  This  valuable 
document  was  to  be  found  only  in 
the  edition  of  Marineo's  work,  "  De 
Rebus  Hispanic  Memorabilibus," 
printed  at  Alcala,  in  1630,  whence  it 
has  been  transferred  by  Clemencin 
to  the  sixth  volume  of  the  Me- 
moirs of  the  Royal  Academy  of 
History. 

18  His  work  "  Guerra  de  Grana- 
da," was  first  published  at  Madrid, 


in  1610,  and  "  may  be  compared," 
says  Nic.  Antonio,  in  a  judgment 
which  has  been  ratified  by  the 
general  consent  of  his  countrymen, 
"  with  the  compositions  of  Sallust, 
or  any  other  ancient  historian." 
His  poetry  and  his  celebrated  jrira- 
resco  novel  "Lazarillode  Tormes," 
have  made  an  epoch  in  the  orna- 
mental literature  of  Spain. 

19  Oviedo  has  devoted  one  of  his 
dialogues  to  this  nobleman,  equal- 
ly distinguished  by  his  successes 
in  arms,  letters,  and  love  ;  the  last 
of  which,  according  to  that  writer, 
he  had  not  entirely  resigned  at  the 
use  of  seventy.  —  Quineuagenas, 
MS.,  bat.  1,  "quinc.  1,  dial  28. 


CLASSICAL  LEARNING.  —  SCIENCE. 


197 


sador  at  Rome,  induced  Martyr  to  visit  Spain,  and  chapter 

XIX. 

who  was  grandson  of  the  famous  marquis  of  Santi-   

liana,  and  nephew  of  the  grand  cardinal.  20  This  il- 
lustrious family,  rendered  yet  more  illustrious  by  its 
merits  than  its  birth,  is  worthy  of  specification,  as 
affording  altogether  the  most  remarkable  combina- 
tion of  literary  talent  in  the  enlightened  court  of 
Castile.  The  queen's  instructer  in  the  Latin  lan- 
guage was  a  lady  named  Dona  Beatriz  de  Galindo, 
called  from  her  peculiar  attainments  la  Latina. 
Another  lady,  Dona  Lucia  de  Medrano,  publicly 
lectured  on  the  Latin  classics  in  the  university  of 
Salamanca.  And  another,  Dona  Francisca  de  Le- 
brija,  daughter  of  the  historian  of  that  name,  filled 
the  chair  of  rhetoric  with  applause  at  Aleala.  But 
our  limits  will  not  allow  a  further  enumeration  of 
names,  which  should  never  be  permitted  to  sink 
into  oblivion,  were  it  only  for  the  rare  scholarship, 
peculiarly  rare  in  the  female  sex,  which  they  dis- 
played, in  an  age  comparatively  unenlightened. 21 
Female  education  in  that  day  embraced  a  wider 

20  For  an  account  of  Santillana,  culture  of  the  nation  under  Isabel- 
see  the  First  Chapter  of  this  Histo-  la,  in  the  sixteenth  llustracion  of 
ry.  The  cardinal,  in  early  life,  is  his  work.  He  has  touched  lightly 
said  to  have  translated  for  his  fath-  on  its  poetical  character,  consider- 
er  the  ^Eneid,  the  Odyssey,  Ovid,  ing,  no  doubt,  that  this  had  been 
Valerius  Maximus,  and  Sallust.  sufficiently  developed  by  other  crit- 
(Mem.  de  la  Acad,  de  Hist.,  torn.  ics.  His  essay,  however,  is  rich 
vi.  Ilust.  16.)  This  Herculean  feat  in  information  in  regard  to  the 
would  put  modern  school-boys  to  scholarship  and  severer  studies 
shame,  and  we  may  suppose  that  of  the  period.  The  reader,  who 
partial  versions  only  of  these  au-  would  pursue  the  inquiry  still  fur- 
thers are  intended.  ther,  may  find  abundant  materials 

21  Mem.  de  la  Acad,  de  Hist.,  in  Nic.  Antonio,  Bibliotheca  Ve- 
tom.  vi.  Ilust.  16. — Oviedo,  Quin-  tus,  torn.  ii.  lib.  10,  cap.  13  et 
cuagenas,  MS.,  dial,  de  Grizio.  seq.  —  Idem,  Bibliotheca  Hispana 

Seuor  Clemencin  has  examined    Nova,  (Matriti,  1783-8,) — torn, 
with  much  care  the   intellectual    i.  ii.  passim. 


198 


CAST1LIAN  LITERATURE. 


part  compass  of  erudition,  in  reference  to  the  ancient 
_    languages,  than  is  common  at  present ;  a  circum- 

stance attributable,  probably,  to  the  poverty  of 
modern  literature  at  that  time,  and  the  new  and 
general  appetite  excited  by  the  revival  of  classical 
learning  in  Italy.  I  am  not  aware,  however,  that 
it  was  usual  for  learned  ladies,  in  any  other  country 
than  Spain,  to  take  part  in  the  public  exercises  of 
the  gymnasium,  and  deliver  lectures  from  the  chairs 
of  the  universities.  This  peculiarity,  which  may 
be  referred  in  part  to  the  queen's  influence,  who 
encouraged  the  love  of  study  by  her  own  example, 
as  well  as  by  personal  attendance  on  the  academic 
examinations,  may  have  been  also  suggested  by  a 
similar  usage,  already  noticed,  among  the  Spanish 
Arabs. 22 

teSug!  While  the  study  of  the  ancient  tongues  came 
thus  into  fashion  with  persons  of  both  sexes,  and 
of  the  highest  rank,  it  was  widely  and  most  thor- 
oughly cultivated  by  professed  scholars.  Men  of 
letters,  some  of  whom  have  been  already  noticed, 
were  invited  into  Spain  from  Italy,  the  theatre  at 
that  time,  on  which,  from  obvious  local  advantages, 
classical  discovery  was  pursued  with  greatest  ardor 
and  success.  To  this  country  it  was  usual  also  for 
Spanish  students  to  repair,  in  order  to  complete 
their  discipline  in  classical  literature,  especially  the 
Greek,  as  first  taught  on  sound  principles  of  criti- 
cism, by  the  learned  exiles  from  Constantinople. 

Lebrija.      The  most  remarkable  of  the  Spanish  scholars,  who 


22  See  Part  I.  Chap.  8,  of  this  History. 


CLASSICAL  LEARNING.  —  SCIENCE. 


199 


made  this  literary  pilgrimage  to  Italy,  was  Antonio  chapter 
de  Lebrija,  or  Nebrissensis,  as  he  is  more  frequently  — X1X' 
called  from  his  Latin  name.23  After  ten  years 
passed  at  Bologna  and  other  seminaries  of  repute, 
with  particular  attention  to  their  interior  discipline, 
he  returned,  in*  1473,  to  his  native  land,  richly 
laden  with  the  stores  of  various  erudition.  He  was 
invited  to  fill  the  Latin  chair  at  Seville,  whence 
he  was  successively  transferred  to  Salamanca  and 
Alcala,  both  of  which  places  he  long  continued  to 
enlighten  by  his  oral  instruction  and  publications. 
The  earliest  of  these  was  his  Introducciones  Lati- 
naSj  the  third  edition  of  which  was  printed  in  1485, 
being  four  years  only  from  the  date  of  the  first ;  a 
remarkable  evidence  of  the  growing  taste  for  clas- 
sical learning.  A  translation  in  the  vernacular 
accompanied  the  last  edition,  arranged,  at  the 
queen's  suggestion,  in  columns  parallel  with  those 
of  the  original  text ;  a  form  which,  since  become 
common,  was  then  a  novelty.24  The  publication  « 
of  his  Castilian  grammar,  "  Grammatica  Castilla- 
na"  followed  in  1492 ;  a  treatise  designed  particu- 
larly for  the  instruction  of  the  ladies  of  the  court. 
The  other  productions  of  this  indefatigable  scholar, 
embrace  a  large  circle  of  topics,  independently  of 
his  various  treatises  on  philology  and  criticism 
Some  were  translated  into  French  and  Italian,  and 
their  republication  has  been  continued  to  the  last 

23  For  a  notice  of  this  scholar,  see  1482,  the  author  states,  that  no 
ihe  postscript  to  Part  I.  Chap.  11,  work  of  the  time  had  a  greater 
of  this  History.  circulation,  more  than  a  thousand 

24  Mendez,  Typographia  Espa-  copies  of  it,  at  a  high  price,  having 
nola,  pp.  271,  272.  been  disposed  of  in  the  preceding 

Jn  the  second  edition,  published    year.    Ibid.,  p.  237. 


200 


CAST1LIAN  LITERATURE. 


part     century.    No  man  of  his  own,  or  of  later  times, 

 ■ —  contributed  more  essentially  than  Lebrija  to  the 

introduction  of  a  pure  and  healthful  erudition  into 
Spain.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say,  that  there  was 
scarcely  an  eminent  Spanish  scholar  in  the  begin- 
ning of  the  sixteenth  century,  who  had  not  formed 
himself  on  the  instructions  of  this  master.25 
Anas  Bar-  Another  name  worthy  of  commemoration,  is  that 
of  Arias  Barbosa,  a  learned  Portuguese,  who,  after 
passing  some  years,  like  Lebrija,  in  the  schools  of 
Italy,  where  he  studied  the  ancient  tongues  under 
the  guidance  of  Politiano,  was  induced  to  establish 
his  residence  in  Spain.  In  1489  we  find  him  at 
Salamanca,  where  he  continued  for  twenty,  or,  ac- 
cording to  some  accounts,  forty  years,  teaching  in 
the  departments  of  Greek  and  rhetoric.  At  the 
close  of  that  period  he  returned  to  Portugal,  where 
he  superintended  the  education  of  some  of  the 
members  of  the  royal  family,  and  survived  to  a 
good  old  age.  Barbosa  was  esteemed  inferior 
to  Lebrija  in  extent  of  various  erudition,  but  to 


25  Nic.  Antonio,  Bibliotheca  No- 
va, torn.  i.  pp.  132-139.  —  Lam- 
pillas,  Letteratura  Spagnuola,  torn, 
ii.  dis.  2,  sec.  3.  —  Dialogs  de  las 
Lenguas,  a  pud  Mayans  y  Siscar, 
Origenes,  (Madrid,  1737,)  torn.  ii. 
pp.  46,  47. 

Lucio  Marineo  pays  the  following' 
elegant  compliment  to  this  learned 
Spaniard,  in  his  discourse  before 
quoted.  "  Amisit  nuper  Hispania 
maximum  sui  cultorem  in  re  litte- 
raria,  Antonium  Nebrissensem,  qui 
primus  ex  Italia  in  Hispaniam  Mu- 
sas  adduxit,  quibuscnm  barbariem 
ex  sua  patria  fugavit,  et  Hispaniam 
totam  linguae  Latinae  legiionibus 


illustravit."  "  Meruerat  id,"  says 
Gomez  de  Castro  of  Lebrija, et 
multo  majora  hominis  eruditio,  cui 
Hispania  debet,  quicquid  habet  bo- 
narum  literarum." 

The  acute  author  of  the  "  Dia- 
logo  de  las  Lenguas,"  while  he 
renders  ample  homage  to  Lebrija's 
Latin  erudition,  disputes  his  critical 
acquaintance  with  his  own  lan- 
guage, from  his  being  a  native  of 
Andalusia,  where  the  Caslilian  was 
not  spoken  with  purity.  "  Hablaba 
y  escrivia  como  en  el  Andalucia  y 
no  como  en  la  Castilla."  p.  92. 
See  also  pp.  9,  10,  46,  53. 


CLASSICAL  LEARNING.  —  SCIENCE. 


20 1 


scholars. 


have  surpassed  him  in  an  accurate  knowledge  of  chapter 

the  Greek,  anc.  poetical  criticism.    In  the  former,  — 

indeed,  he  seems  to  have  obtained  a  greater  repute 
than  any  Spanish  scholar  of  the  time.  He  com- 
posed some  valuable  works,  especially  on  ancient 
prosody.  The  unwearied  assiduity  and  complete 
success  of  his  academic  labors  have  secured  to  him 
a  high  reputation  among  the  restorers  of  ancient 
learning,  and  especially  that  of  reviving  a  livelier 
relish  for  the  study  of  the  Greek,  by  conducting  it 
on  principles  of  pure  criticism,  in  the  same  manner 
as  Lebrija  did  with  the  Latin.26 

The  scope  of  the  present  work  precludes  the  j^*"1  the 
possibility  of  a  copious  enumeration  of  the  pioneers 
of  ancient  learning,  to  whom  Spain  owes  so  large 
a  debt  of  gratitude.27    The.  Castilian  scholars  of 
the  close  of  the  fifteenth,  and  the  beginning  of  the 

~$  Barbosa,  Bibliotheca  Lusita-  tions  of  Cicero  and  other  Latin 

na,  (Lisboa Occidental,  1741,)  torn,  authors;  and  lastly  Vives,  whose 

i.   p]).  76-78.  —  Signorelli,  Col-  fame  rather  belongs  to  Europe  than 

tura  nelle  Sicilie,  torn.  iv.  pp.  315-  his  own  country,  who,  when  only 

321. — Mayans  y  Siscar,  Origenes,  twenty-six  years  old,  drew  from 

torn.  i.  p.  173.  —  Lampillas,  Let-  Erasmus  the  encomium,  that ''there 

teratura  Spagnuola,  torn.  ii.  dis.  2,  was  scarcely  any  one  of  the  age 

sect.  5.  —  Nic.  Antonio,  Bibliothe-  whom  he  could  venture  to  compare 

ca  Nova,  torn.  i.  pp.  170,  171.  with  him  in  philosophy,  eloquence, 

27  Among  these  are  particularly  and   liberal    learning."    But  the 

deserving  of  attention  the  brothers  most  unequivocal  testimony  to  the 

John  and  Francis  Vergara,  profes-  deep  and  various  scholarship  of  the 

sors  at  Alcala,  the  latter  of  whom  period  is  afforded  by  that  stupen- 

was  esteemed  one  of  the  most  ac-  dous  literary  work  of  Cardinal  Xi- 

complished  scholars  of  the  age  ;  menes,  the  Polyglot  Bible,  whose 

Nunez  de  Guzman,  of  the  ancient  versions  in  the  Greek,  Latin,  and 

house  of  that  name,  professor  for  oriental  tongues  were  collated,  with 

many  years  at  Salamanca  and  Al-  a  single  exception,   by  Spanish 

cala,  and  the  author  of  the  Latin  scholars.    Erasmus,  Epistolae,  lib. 

version  in  the  famous  Polyglot  of  19,  epist.  101.  —  Lampillas,  Lette- 

Cardinal  Ximenes ;  he  left  behind  ratura  Spagnuola,  torn.  ii.  pp.  382 

him   numerous  works,  especially  -381,  195,  792-794;  torn.  ii.  p. 

commentaries  on  the  classics;  Oli-  208  et  seq. — Gomez,  De  Rebus 

vario,  whose  curious  erudition  was  Gestis,  fol.  37. 
abundantly  exhibited  in  his  illustra 

VOL.  11.  2G 


202 


CASTILIAN  LITERATURE. 


part     sixteenth  century,  may  take  rank  with  their  illus- 

 -        trious  contemporaries  of  Italy.    They  could  not 

indeed  achieve  such  brilliant  results  in  the  discovery 
of  the  remains  of  antiquity,  for  such  remains  had 
been  long  scattered  and  lost  amid  the  centuries  of 
exile  and  disastrous  warfare  consequent  on  the 
Saracen  invasion.  But  they  were  unwearied  in 
their  illustrations,  both  oral  and  written,  of  the 
ancient  authors ;  and  their  numerous  commentaries, 
translations,  dictionaries,  grammars,  and  various 
w  orks  of  criticism,  many  of  which,  though  now  ob- 
solete, passed  into  repeated  editions  in  their  own 
day,  bear  ample  testimony  to  the  generous  zeal, 
with  which  they  conspired  to  raise  their  contem- 
poraries to  a  proper  level  for  contemplating .  the 
works  of  the  great  masters  of  antiquity ;  and  well 
entitled  them  to  the  high  eulogium  of  Erasmus, 
that  "  liberal  studies  were  brought,  in  the  course 
of  a  few  yeais,  in  Spain  to  so  flourishing  a  condi- 
tion, as  might  not  only  excite  the  admiration,  but 
serve  as  a  model  to  the  most  cultivated  nations  of 
Europe."28 

uiim-vsities.  The  Spanish  universities  were  the  theatre,  on 
which  this  classical  erudition  wras  more  especially 
displayed.  Previous  to  Isabella's  reign,  there  were 
but  few  schools  in  the  kingdom  ;  not  one  indeed 
of  any  note,  except  in  Salamanca ;  and  this  did 
not  escape  the  blight  which  fell  on  every  generous 
study.  But  under  the  cheering  patronage  of  the 
present  government,  they  were  soon  filled,  and 


28  Erasmus,  F.pistola?,  p.  977. 


CLASSICAL  LEARNING.  — SCIENCE. 


203 


widely  multiplied.    Academies  of  repute  were  to  chapter 

be  found  in  Seville,  Toledo,  Salamanca,  Granada,   1— 

and  Alcala ;  and  learned  teachers  were  drawn  from 
abroad  by  the  most  liberal  emoluments.  At  the 
head  of  these  establishments  stood  "  the  illustrious 
city  of  Salamanca,"  as  Marineo  fondly  terms  it, 
"  mother  of  all  liberal  arts  and  virtues,  alike  re- 
nowned for  noble  cavaliers  and  learned  men."29 
Such  was  its  reputation,  that  foreigners  as  well 
as  natives  were  attracted  to  its  schools,  and  at 
one  time,  according  to  the  authority  of  the  same 
professor,  seven  thousand  students  were  assembled 
within  its  walls.  A  letter  of  Peter  Martyr,  to  his 
patron  the  count  of  Tendilla,  gives  a  whimsical  pic- 
ture of  the  literary  enthusiasm  of  this  place.  The 
throng  was  so  great  to  hear  his  introductory  lecture 
on  one  of  the  Satires  of  Juvenal,  that  every  avenue 
to  the  hall  was  blockaded,  and  the  professor  was 
borne  in  on  the  shoulders  of  the  students.  Pro- 
fessorships in  every  department  of  science  then 
studied,  as  well  as  of  polite  letters,  were  established 
at  the  university,  the  "  new  Athens,"  as  Martyr 
somewhere  styles  it.  Before  the  close  of  Isabella's 
reign,  however,  its  glories  were  rivalled,  if  not 
eclipsed,  by  those  of  Alcala;30  which  combined 

29  "La  muy  esclarecida  ciudad  says  Erasmus  of  this  university, 
de  Salamanca,  madre  de  las  artes  44  non  aliunde  celebritatem  nominis 
liberales,  y  todas  virtudes,  y  ansi  auspicata  est  quam  a  complectendo 
de  cavalleros  como  de  letrados  va-  linguas  ac  bonas  literas.  Cujus 
rones,  muy  ilustre."  Cosas  Me-  praecipuum  ornamentum  est  egre- 
morables,  fol.  11.  —  Chacon,  Hist,  gius  ille  senex,  planeque  dignus 
de  la  Universidad  de  Salamanca,  qui  multos  vincat  Nestoras,  Anto- 
apud  Semanario  Erudito,  torn,  xviii.  nius  Nebrissensis."  Epist.  ad  Lu- 
pp.  1-61.  dovicun  Vivem,  1521.  Epistolae, 

30  4k  Academia  Complutensis,"  p.  755. 


204 


CASTILIAN  LITERATURE. 


part     higher  advantages  for  ecclesiastical  with  civil  edu- 

 _  ,  cation,  and  which,  under  the  splendid  patronage  of 

Cardinal  Ximenes,  executed  the  famous  Polyglot 
version  of  the  Scriptures,  the  most  stupendous  lite 
rary  enterprise  of  that  age.81 
sacred  This  active  cultivation  was  not  confined  to  the 

studies 

dead  languages,  but  spread  more  or  less  over  every 
department  of  knowledge.  Theological  science,  in 
particular,  received  a  large  share  of  attention.  It 
had  always  formed  a  principal  object  of  academic 
instruction,  though  suffered  to  languish  under  the 
universal  corruption  of  the  preceding  reign.  It 
was  so  common  for  the  clergy  to  be  ignorant  of  the 
most  elementary  knowledge,  that  the  council  of 
Aranda  found  it  necessary  to  pass  an  ordinance, 
the  year  before  Isabella's  accession,  that  no  person 
should  be  admitted  to  orders  who  was  ignorant  of 
Latin.  The  queen  took  the  most  effectual  means 
for  correcting  this  abuse,  by  raising  only  competent 
persons  to  ecclesiastical  dignities.  The  highest 
stations  in  the  church  were  reserved  for  those,  who 
combined  the  highest  intellectual  endowments  with 
unblemished  piety.  Cardinal  Mendoza,  whose  acute 
and  comprehensive  mind  entered  with  interest  into 
every  scheme  for  the  promotion  of  science,  was 


31  Cosas  Memorables,  ubi  supra. 
—  Peter  Martyr,  Opus  Epist. ,  epist. 
57.  —  Gomez,  De  Rebus  Gestis,  iib. 
4.  —  Chacon,  Ur.iversidad  de  Sala- 
manca, ubi  supra. 

It  appears  that  the  practice  of 
scraping  with  the  feet  as  an  expres- 
sion of  disapprobation,  familiar  in 
our  universities,  is  of  venerable  an- 
tiquity ;  for  Martyr  mentions,  that 


he  was  saluted  with  it  before  fin- 
ishing his  discourse  by  one  or  two 
idle  youths,  dissatisfied  with  its 
length.  The  lecturer,  however, 
seems  to  have  given  general  satis- 
faction, for  he  was  escorted  back  in 
triumph  to  his  lodgings,  to  use  his 
own  language,  "  like  a  victor  in  the 
Olympic  games,"  after  the  conclu- 
sion of  the  exercise. 


CLASSICAL  LEARNING.  —  SCIENCE. 


205 


archbishop  of  Toledo ;  Talavera,  whose  hospitable  chapter 
mansion  was  itself  an  academy  for  men  of  letters,  — — — 
and  whose  princely  revenues  were  liberally  dis- 
pensed for  their  support,  was  raised  to  the  see 
of  Granada;  and  Ximenes,  whose  splendid  literary 
projects  will  require  more  particular  notice  here- 
after, succeeded  Mendoza  in  the  primacy  of  Spain. 
Under  the  protection  of  these  enlightened  patrons, 
theological  studies  were  pursued  with  ardor,  the 
Scriptures  copiously  illustrated,  and  sacred  elo- 
quence cultivated  with  success. 

A  similar  impulse  was  felt  in  the  other  walks  of  °th«"  scien- 

A  ces. 

science.  Jurisprudence  assumed  a  new  aspect,  un- 
der the  learned  labors  of  Montalvo.32  The  mathe- 
matics formed  a  principal  branch  of  education,  and 
were  successfully  applied  to  astronomy  and  geogra- 
phy. Valuable  treatises  were  produced  on  medi- 
cine, and  on  the  more  familiar  practical  arts,  as 
husbandry,  for  example.33  History,  which  since 
the  time  of  Alfonso  the  Tenth,  had  been  held  in 
higher  honor  and  more  widely  cultivated  in  Castile 
than  in  any  other  European  state,  began  to  lay 
aside  the  garb  of  chronicle,  and  to  be  studied  on 
more  scientific  principles.  Charters  and  diplomas 
were  consulted,  manuscripts  collated,  coins  and 
lapidary  inscriptions  deciphered,  and  collections 
made  of  these  materials,  the  true  basis  of  authentic 


39  For  some  remarks  on  the  la- 
bors of  this  distinguished  juriscon- 
sult, see  Part  I.  Chap.  6,  and  Part 
fit.  Chap.  2G.  of  the  present  work. 

^  The  most  remarkable  of  these 
latter  is  Herrera's  treatise  on  Agri- 


culture, which,  since  its  publica- 
tion in  Toledo,  in  1520,  has  passed 
through  a  variety  of  editions  at 
home,  and  translations  abroad. 
Nic.  Antonio,  liibliotheca  A'ova, 
torn.  i.  p.  503. 


206 


CASTILIAN  LITERATURE. 


part  history ;  and  an  office  of  public  archives,  like  that 
.  !   now  existing  at  Simancas,  was  established  at  Bur- 
gos, and  placed  under  the  care  of  Alonso  de  Mota, 
as  keeper,  with  a  liberal  salary.34 
!fuductgd.in"  Nothing  could  have  been  more  opportune  for  the 
enlightened  purposes  of  Isabella,  than  the  introduc- 
tion of  the  art  of  printing  into  Spain,  at  the  com- 
mencement, indeed  in  the  very  first  year,  of  her 
reign.  She  saw,  from  the  first  moment,  all  the  ad- 
vantages which  it  promised  for  diffusing  and  perpet- 
uating the  discoveries  of  science.  She  encouraged 
its  establishment,  by  large  privileges  to  those  who 
exercised  it,  whether  natives  or  foreigners,  and  by 
causing  many  of  the  works,  composed  by  her  sub- 
jects, to  be  printed  at  her  own  charge. 35 
The  queen       Among  the  earlier  printers  we  frequently  find  the 

encourages  °  A  *  •/ 

h*  names  of  Germans ;  a  people,  who  to  the  original 

merits  of  the  discovery  may  justly  add  that  of  its 
propagation  among  every  nation  of  Europe.  We 
meet  with  a  pragmatica,  or  royal  ordinance,  dated 
in  1477,  exempting  a  German,  named  Theodoric, 
from  taxation,  on  the  ground  of  being  "  one  of  the 
principal  persons  in  the  discovery  and  practice  of 
the  art  of  printing  books,  which  he  had  brought 
with  him  into  Spain  at  great  risk  and  expense,  with 
the  design  of  ennobling  the  libraries  of  the  king- 

34  This  collection,  with  the  ill  torn.  vii.  p.  18.  —  Informe  de  Rioi, 

luck  which  has  too  often  befallen  who  particularly  notices  the  solici- 

such  repositories  in  Spain,  was  tude  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  for 

burnt  in  the  war  of  the  Communi-  preserving  the  public  documents, 

ties,  in  the  time  of  Charles  V.  3^  Meudez,  Typographia  Espa- 

Mem.  de  la  Acad,  de  Hist.,  torn,  fiola,  p.  51. 
vi.   Oast.  16  — Morales,  Obras, 


CLASSICAL  LEARNING.  —  SCIENCE. 


207 


dom."36  Monopolies  for  printing  and  selling  books  chapter 
for  a  limited  period,  answering  to  the  modern  copy-  — — — 
right,  were  granted  to  certain  persons,  in  con- 
sideration of  their  doing  so  at  a  reasonable  rate. 37 
It  seems  to  have  been  usual  for  the  printers  to  be 
also  the  publishers  and  venders  of  books.  These 
exclusive  privileges,  however,  do  not  appear  to  have 
been  carried  to  a  mischievous  extent.  Foreign 
books,  of  every  description,  by  a  law  of  1480,  were 
allowed  to  be  imported  into  the  kingdom,  free  of  all 
duty  whatever ;  an  enlightened  provision,  which 
might  furnish  a  useful  hint  to  legislators  of  the 
nineteenth  century. 38 

The  first  press  appears  to  have  been  erected  at  J^™j*j 
Valencia,  in  1474 ;  although  the  glory  of  prece- 
dence is  stoutly  contested  by  several  places,  and 
especially  by  Barcelona.39  The  first  work  printed 
was  a  collection  of  songs,  composed  for  a  poetical 
contest  in  honor  of  the  Virgin,  for  the  most  part  in 


36  Archivo  de  Murcia,  apud 
Mem.  de  la  Acad,  de  Hist.,  torn, 
vi.  p.  244. 

37  Mendez,  Typographia  Espa- 
nola,  pp.  52,  332. 

38  Ordenancas  Reales,  lib.  4,  tit. 
4,  ley  22.  —  The  preamble  of  this 
statute  is  expressed  in  the  follow- 
ing enlightened  terms;  "  Conside- 
rando  los  Reyes  de  gloriosa  me- 
moria  quanto  era  provechoso  y 
honroso,  que  a  estos  sus  reynos  se 
truxessen  libros  de  otras  partes 
para  que  con  ellos  se  hiziessen  los 
hombres  letrados,  quisieron  y  or- 
denaron,  que  de  los  libros  no  se 

pagasse   el   alcavala  Lo 

qual  parece  que  redunda  en  prove- 
cho  universal  de  todos,  y  en  enno- 


blecimiento  de  nuestros  Reynos." 

39  Capmany,  Mem.  de  Barcelo- 
na, torn.  i.  part.  2,  lib.  2,  cap.  6.  — 
Mendez,  Typographia  Espafiola, 
pp.  55,  93. 

Bouterwek  intimates,  that  the 
art  of  printing  was  first  practised 
in  Spain  by  German  printers  at 
Seville,  in  the  beginning  of  the 
sixteenth  century.  (Bouterwek, 
Geschichte  der  Poesie  und  Bered- 
samkeit,  (Gottingen,  1801  - 17.) 
band  iii,  p.  98.)  —  He  appears  to 
have  been  misled  by  a  solitary  ex- 
ample quoted  from  Mayans  y  Sis- 
car.  The  want  of  materials  has 
more  than  once  led  this  eminent 
critic  to  build  sweeping  conclusions 
on  slender  premises. 


208 


CASTILIAN  LITERATURE. 


part     the  Limousin  or  Valencian  dialect.40  In  the  follow- 

  ing  year  the  first  ancient  classic,  being  the  works 

of  Sallust,  was  printed  ;  and  in  1478  there  appear- 
ed from  the  same  press  a  translation  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, in  the  Limousin,  by  father  Boniface  Ferrer, 
brother  of  the  famous  Dominican,  St.  Vincent 
Ferrer.41  Through  the  liberal  patronage  of  the 
government,  the  art  was  widely  diffused ;  and,  be- 
fore the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century,  presses  were 
established  and  in  active  operation  in  the  principal 
cities  of  the  united  kingdom ;  in  Toledo,  Seville, 
Ciudad  Real,  Granada,  Valladolid,  Burgos,  Sala- 
manca, Zamora,  Saragossa,  Valencia,  Barcelona, 
Monte  Rey,  Lerida,  Murcia,  Tolosa,  Tarragona, 
Alcala  de  Henares,  and  Madrid. 

It  is  painful  to  notice  amidst  the  judicious  provis- 
ions for  the  encouragement  of  science,  one  so  en- 
tirely repugnant  to  their  spirit  as  the  establishment 
of  the  censorship.  By  an  ordinance,  dated  at  To- 
ledo, July  8th,  1502,  it  was  decreed,  that,  "  as  many 
of  the  books  sold  in  the  kingdom  were  defective,  or 
false,  or  apocryphal,  or  pregnant  with  vain  and  su- 
perstitious novelties,  it  was  therefore  ordered  that 
no  book  should  hereafter  be  printed  without  special 
license  from  the  king,  or  some  person  regular- 
ly commissioned  by  him  for  the  purpose."  The 
names  of  the  commissioners  then  follow,  consisting 
mostly  of  ecclesiastics,  archbishops  and  bishops, 

40  The  title  of  the  book  is  "  Cer-  Mendez,  Typographia  Espafiola, 

tamen  poetich  en  lohor  de  la  Con-  p.  56. 
cecio,"  Valencia,  1474,  4to.    The       41  Ibid.,  pp.  Gl-63. 
name  of  the  printer  is  wanting. 


CLASSICAL  LEARNING  — SCIENCE. 


209 


with  authority  respectively  over  their  several  dio-  chapter 

eeses.42     This  authority  was  devolved   in   later  — ^  

times,  under  Charles  the  Fifth  and  his  successors, 
on  the  Council  of  the  Supreme,  over  which  the  in- 
quisitor general  presided  ex  officio.  The  immediate 
agents  employed  in  the  examination  were  also 
drawn  from  the  Inquisition,  who  exercised  this  im- 
portant trust,  as  is  well  known,  in  a  manner  most 
fatal  to  the  interests  of  letters  and  humanity.  Thus 
a  provision,  destined  in  its  origin  for  the  advance- 
ment of  science,  by  purifying  it  from  the  crudities 
and  corruptions  which  naturally  infect  it  in  a  primi- 
tive age,  contributed  more  effectually  to  its  discour- 
agement, than  any  other  which  could  have  been 
devised,  by  interdicting  the  freedom  of  expression, 
so  indispensable  to  freedom  of  inquiry.43 

While  endeavouring  to  do  justice  to  the  progress  Actual  pro- 

r       .    ...  .  .  rill  grass  of  sci- 

ot  civilization  in  this  reign;  I  should  regret  to  enc" 
present  to  the  reader  an  over-colored  picture  of 
its  results.  Indeed,  less  emphasis  should  be  laid 
on  any  actual  results,  than  on  the  spirit  of  improve- 
ment, which  they  imply  in  the  nation,  and  the  lib- 
eral dispositions  of  the  government.    The  fifteenth 


42  Mendez,  Typographia  Espa- 
fiola,  pp.  52,  53.  —  Pragmaticas 
del  Reyno,  fol.  138,  139. 

43  Llorente,  Hist,  de  requisi- 
tion, torn.  i.  chap.  13,  art.  1. 

"  Adempto  per  inquisitiones" 
says  Tacit  us  of  the  gloomy  times 
of  Domitian,  "  et  loquendi  audien- 
dique  commercio."  (Vita  Agri- 
colae,  sec.  2.)  Beaumarchais,  in 
a  merrier  vein,  indeed,  makes  the 
same  bitter  reflections.  "  II  s'est 
etabli  dans  Madrid  un  systeme  de 


liberte  sur  la  vente  des  productions, 
qui  s'etend  meme  a  celles  de  la 
presse ;  et  que,  pourvu  que  je  ne 
parle  en  mes  ecrits  ni  de  l'autorite, 
ni  de  culte,  ni  de  la  politique,  ni 
de  la  morale,  ni  des  gens  en  place, 
ni  des  corps  en  credit,  ni  de  l'Ope 
ra,  ni  des  autres  spectacles,  ni  de 
personne  qui  tienne  a  quelque 
chose,  je  puis  tout  imprimer  librc- 
ment,  sous  Tinspection  de  deux  ou 
trois  censeurs."  Mariage  de  Fi- 
garo, acte  5,  sc.  3. 


VOL.  II. 


27 


210 


CASTILIAN  LITERATURE. 


part  century  was  distinguished  by  a  zeal  for  research 
- — - — .  and  laborious  acquisition,  especially  in  ancient  lit- 
erature, throughout  Europe,  which  showed  itself 
in  Italy  in  the  beginning  of  the  age,  and  in  Spain, 
and  some  other  countries,  towards  the  close.  It 
was  natural  that  men  should  explore  the  long-buried 
treasures  descended  from  their  ancestors,  before 
venturing  on  any  thing  of  their  own  creation. 
Their  efforts  were  eminently  successful  ;  and,  by 
opening  an  acquaintance  with  the  immortal  pro- 
ductions of  ancient  literature,  they  laid  the  best 
foundation  for  the  cultivation  of  the  modern. 

In  the  sciences,  their  success  was  more  equivocal. 
A  blind  reverence  for  authority,  a  habit  of  specula- 
tion, instead  of  experiment,  so  pernicious  in  phys- 
ics, in  short  an  ignorance  of  the  true  principles  of 
philosophy,  often  led  the  scholars  of  that  day  in  a 
wrong  direction.  Even  when  they  took  a  right 
one,  their  attainments,  under  all  these  impediments, 
were  necessarily  so  small,  as  to  be  scarcely  percep- 
tible, when  viewed  from  the  brilliant  heights  to 
which  science  has  arrived  in  our  own  age.  Unfor- 
tunately for  Spain,  its  subsequent  advancement  has 
been  so  retarded,  that  a  comparison  of  the  fifteenth 
century  with  those  which  succeeded  it,  is  by  no 
means  so  humiliating  to  the  former  as  in  some  oth- 
er countries  of  Europe  ;  and  it  is  certain,  that  in 
general  intellectual  fermentation,  no  period  has  sur- 
passed, if  it  can  be  said  to  have  rivalled,  the  age  of 
Isabella. 


CHAPTER  XX. 


CASTILIAN  LITERATURE.  —  ROMANCES  OF  CHIVALRY.  —  LYRI- 
CAL POETRY.  — THE  DRAMA. 

This  Reign  an  Epoch  in  Polite  Letters.  —  Romances  of  Chivalry.  — 
Ballads  or  Romances.  —  Moorish  Minstrelsy. — "  Cancionero  General." 

„  — Its  Literary  Value.  —  Rise  of  the  Spanish  Diama. —  Criticism  on 
"  Celestina."  —  Encina.  —  Naharro.  — Low  Condition  ^of  the  Stage. 
—  National  Spirit  of  the  Literature  of  this  Epoch. 

Ornamental  or  polite  literature,  which,  emanat-  chapter 

•    •  •  XX 

ing  from  the  taste  and  sensibility  of  a  nation,   . — 

readily  exhibits  its  various  fluctuations  of  fashion  anepochlo 

J  polite  let- 

and  feeling,  was  stamped  in  Spain  with  the  dis-  ters 
tinguishing  characteristics  of  this  revolutionary  age. 
The  Provencal,  which  reached  such  high  perfec- 
tion in  Catalonia,  and  subsequently  in  Aragon,  as 
noticed  in  an  introductory  chapter,1  expired  with 
the  union  of  this  monarchy  with  Castile,  and  the 
dialect  ceased  to  be  applied  to  literary  purposes 
altogether,  after  the  Castilian  became  the  language 
of  the  court  in  the  united  kingdoms.  The  poetry 
of  Castile,  which  throughout  the  present  reign  con- 
tinued to  breathe  the  same  patriotic  spirit,  and  to 
exhibit  the  same  national  peculiarities  that  had  dis- 

1  Eichhorn,Geschichte  derKul-  pp.  129,  130.  —  See  also  the  con- 
tur  und  Litteratur  der  Neueren  elusion  of  the  Introduction,  Sec.  2, 
Europa,  (Gottingen,  1796  -  1811,)    of  this  History. 


212 


CASTILIAN  LITERATURE. 


part     tinguished  it  from  the  time  of  the  Cid,  submitted 

 —  soon  after  Ferdinand's  death  to  the  influence  of  the 

more  polished  Tuscan,  and  henceforth,  losing  some- 
what of  its  distinctive  physiognomy,  assumed  many 
of  the  prevalent  features  of  continental  literature. 
Thus  the  reign  of  Ferdinand  and  Isahella  becomes 
an  epoch  as  memorable  in  literary,  as  in  civil  his- 
tory. 

Romances  of     The  most  copious  vein  of  fancy,  in  that  day,  was 

chivalry.  ... 

turned  in  the  direction  of  the  prose  romance  of 
chivalry  ;  now  seldom  disturbed,  even  in  its  own 
country,  except  by  the  antiquary.  The  circum- 
stances of  the  age  naturally  led  to  its  production. 
The  romantic  Moorish  wars,  teeming  with  adventu- 
rous exploit  and  picturesque  incident,  carried  on 
with  the  natural  enemies  of  the  Christian  knight, 
and  opening  moreover  all  the  legendary  stores  of 
oriental  fable,  —  the  stirring  adventures  by  sea  as 
well  as  land,  —  above  all,  the  discovery  of  a  world 
beyond  the  waters,  whose  unknown  regions  gave 
full  scope  to  the  play  of  the  imagination,  all  con- 
tributed to  stimulate  the  appetite  for  the  incredible 
chimeras,  the  magnanime  menzogne,  of  chivalry. 
The  publication  of  "  Amadis  de  Gaula  "  gave  a 
decided  impulse  to  this  popular  feeling.  This  ro- 
mance, which  seems  now  well  ascertained  to  be  the 
production  of  a  Portuguese  in  the  latter  half  of  the 
fourteenth  century,  2  was  first  printed  in  a  Spanish 

2  Nic.  Antonio  seems  unwilling  among  them  Lnmpillas,  (TCnsayo 

to  relinquish  the  pretensions  of  his  Historico-Apologetico  de  la  Litera- 

own  nation  to  the  authorship  of  this  ttira  Espafiola, (Madrid, 1789,)  torn, 

romance.    (See  Bibliotheca  Nova,  v.  p.  168,)  who  resigns  no  more 

tom.ii.  p.  394.)    Later  critics,  and  than  he  is  compelled  to  do, are  less 


ROMANTIC  FICTION  AND  POETRY. 


215 


version,  probably  not  far  from  1490. 3    Its  editor,  chapter 

Garci  Ordonez  de  Montalvo,  states,  in  his  prologue,  ,  xx' 

that  "  he  corrected  it  from  the  ancient  originals, 
pruning  it  of  all  superfluous  phrases,  and  sub- 
stituting others  of  a  more  polished  and  elegant 
style."  4  How  far  its  character  was  benefited  by 
this  work  of  purification  may  be  doubted  ;  although 
it  is  probable  it  did  not  suffer  so  much  by  such  a 


disposed  to  contest  the  claims  of 
the  Portuguese.  Mr.  Southey  has 
cited  two  documents,  one  historical, 
the  other  poetical,  which  seem  to 
place  its  composition  by  Lobeira  in 
the  latter  part  of  the  fourteenth 
century  beyond  any  reasonable 
doubt.  (See  Amadis  of  Gaul,  pref., 
—  also  JSarmiento,  Memorias  para 
la  Historia  de  la  Poesia  y  Poetas 
Espafioles,  Obras  Posthumas,  (Ma- 
drid, 1775,)  torn.  i.  p.  239.)  Bouter- 
wek,  and  after  him  Sismondi,  with- 
out adducing  any  authority,  have 
fixed  the  era  of  Lobeira's  death  at 
1325.  Dante,  who  died  but  four 
years  previous  to  that  date,  fur- 
nishes a  negative  argument,  at 
least,  against  this,  since  in  hiu  no- 
tice of  some  doughty  names  of 
chivalry  then  popular,  he  makes 
no  allusion  to  Amadis,  the  best  of 
all.    Inferno,  cantos  v.,  xxxi. 

3  The  excellent  old  romance 
"  Tirante  the  White,"  Tirant  lo 
Blanch,  was  printed  at  Valencia  in 
1490.  (See  Mendez,  Typographia 
Kspafiola,  torn.  i.  pp.  72-75.)  If, 
as  Cervantes  asserts,  the  "Ama- 
dis" was  the  first  book  of  chivalry 
printed  in  Spain,  it  must  have  been 
anterior  to  this  date.  This  is  ren- 
dered probable  by  Montalvo's  pro- 
logue to  his  edition  at  Saragossa, 
in  1521,  still  preserved  in  the  royal 
library  at  Madrid,  where  he  alludes 
to  his  former  publication  of  it  in 
the  time  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella. 
(Cervantes,  Don  Quixote,  ed.  Pel- 
licer,  Discurso  Prelim.) 


Mr.  Dunlop,  who  has  analyzed 
these  romances  with  a  patience 
that  more  will  be  disposed  to  com- 
mend than  imitate,  has  been  led 
into  the  error  of  supposing  that 
the  first  edition  of  the  "  Amadis  " 
was  printed  at  Seville,  in  1526,  from 
detached  fragments  appearing  in 
the  time  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella, 
and  subsequently  by  Montalvo,  at 
Salamanca,  in  1547.  See  History 
of  Prose  Fiction,  vol.  ii.  chap.  10. 

4  The  following  is  Montalvo's 
brief  prologue  to  the  introduction 
of  the  first  book.  "  Aqvi  comien$a 
el  primero  libro  del  esforcado  et. 
virtuoso  cauallero  Amadis  hijo  del 
rey  Perion  de  Gaula  :  y  dela  reyna 
Elisena :  el  qual  fue  coregido  y 
emendado  por  el  honrado  y  vir- 
tuoso cauallero  Garciordofies  de 
Montalvo,  regidor  dela  noble  uilla 
de  Medina  del  campo ;  et  cor- 
regiole  delos  antiguos  originales 
que  estauan  corruptos,  et  com- 
puestos  en  antiguo  estilo :  por  falta 
delos  diferentes  escriptores.  Qui- 
tando  muchas  palabras  superrluas  : 
et  poniendo  otras  de  mas  polido 
y  elegante  estilo  :  tocantes  ala  ca- 
ualleria  et  actos  della,  animando 
los  coragones  gentiles  de  manzebos 
belicosos  que  con  grandissimo  af- 
fetto  abrazan  el  arte  dela  milicia 
corporal  animando  la  immortal  me- 
moria  del  arte  de  caualleria  no 
menos  honestissimo  que  glorioso." 
Amadis  de  Gaula,  (Venecia,  1533,) 
fol.  1. 


214 


CAST!  LI  AN  LITERATURE. 


part     process  as  it  would  have  done  in  a  later  and  more 

  cultivated  period.    The  simple  beauties  of  this  fine 

old  romance,  its  bustling  incidents,  relieved  by  the 
delicate  play  of  oriental  machinery,  its  general  truth 
of  portraiture,  above  all,  the  knightly  character  of 
the  hero,  who  graced  the  prowess  of  chivalry  with 
a  courtesy,  modesty,  and  fidelity,  unrivalled  in  the 
creations  of  romance,  soon  recommended  it  to  pop- 
ular favor  and  imitation.  A  continuation,  bearing 
the  title  of  "  Las  Sergas  de  Esplandian,"  was  given 
to  the  world  by  Montalvo  himself,  and  grafted  on 
the  original  stock,  as  the  fifth  book  of  the  A  mad  is, 
before  1510.  A  sixth,  containing  the  adventures 
of  his  nephew,  was  printed  at  Salamanca  in  the 
course  of  the  last-mentioned  year  ;  and  thus  the 
idle  writers  of  the  day  continued  to  propagate  dul- 
ness  through  a  series  of  heavy  tomes,  amounting  in 
all  to  four  and  twenty  books,  until  the  much  abused 
public  would  no  longer  suffer  the  name  of  Amadis 
to  cloak  the  manifold  sins  of  his  posterity. 5  Other 
knights-errant  were  sent  roving  about  the  world  at 
the  same  time,  whose  exploits  would  fill  a  library  ; 
but  fortunately  they  have  been  permitted  to  pass 


5  Nic.  Antonio  enumerates  the 
editions  of  thirteen  of  this  doughty 
family  of  knights-errant.  (Biblio- 
theca  Nova,  torn.  ii.  pp.  394,  395.) 
He  dismisses  his  notice  with  the 
reflection,  somewhat  more  charita- 
ble than  that  of  Don  Quixote's 
curate,  that  "  he  had  felt  little  in- 
terest in  investigating  these  fables, 
yet  was  willing  to  admit  with  oth- 
ers, that  their  reading  was  not 
wholly  useless.'' 


Moratin  has  collected  an  appal 
ling  catalogue  of  part  of  the  books 
of  chivalry  published  in  Spain  at 
the  close  of  the  fifteenth  and  the 
following  century.  The  first  on 
the  list  is  the  Carcel  de  Amor,  pot 
Diego  Hernandez  de  San  Pedro., 
en  Burgos,  afio  de  1496.  Obras, 
torn.  i.  pp.  93-98. 


ROMANTIC  FICTION  AND  POETRY.  215 


into  oblivion,  from  which  a  few  of  their  names  only  chapter 

XX 

have  been  rescued  by  the  caustic  criticism  of  the  — 

curate  in  Don  Quixote  ;  who,  it  will  be  remem- 
bered, after  declaring  that  the  virtues  of  the  parent 
shall  not  avail  his  posterity,  condemns  them  and 
their  companions,  with  one  or  two  exceptions  only, 
to  the  fatal  funeral  pile. 6 

These  romances  of  chivalry  must  have  undoubt-  Their  perm. 

J  cious  effects. 

edly  contributed  to  nourish  those  exaggerated  senti- 
ments, which  from  a  very  early  period  entered  into 
the  Spanish  character.  Their  evil  influence,  in  a 
literary  view,  resulted  less  from  their  improbabili- 
ties of  situation,  which  they  possessed  in  common 
with  the  inimitable  Italian  epics,  than  from  the  false 
pictures  which  they  presented  of  human  character, 
familiarizing  the  eye  of  the  reader  with  such  mod- 
els as  debauched  the  taste,  and  rendered  him  inca- 
pable of  relishing  the  chaste  and  sober  productions 
of  art.  It  is  remarkable  that  the  chivalrous  ro- 
mance, which  was  so  copiously  cultivated  through 
the  greater  part  of  the  sixteenth  century,  should 
not  have  assumed  the  poetic  form,  as  in  Italy,  and 
indeed  among  our  Norman  ancestors  ;  and  that,  in 
its  prose  dress,  no  name  of  note  appears  to  raise  it 


6  Cervantes,  Don  Quixote,  torn,  of  the  "  Dialogo  de  las  Lenguas  " 

i.  part.  1,  cap.  6.  chimes  in  with  the  same  tone  of 

The  curate's  wrath  is  very  em-  criticism.    "  Losquales,"  he  says, 

phatically  expressed.  "Puesvayan  speaking' of  books  of  chivalry,  "tie 

todos  al  corral,  dixo  el  Cura,  que  a  mas  de  ser  mentirossissimos,  son 

trueco  de  quemar  a  la  reyna  Pinti-  tal  mal  compuestos,  assi  por  dezir 

quiniestra,  y  al  pastor  Darinel  y  a  las  mentiras  tan  desvergoucailas, 

sus  eglogas,  y  a  las  endiabladas  y  como  por  tener  el  estilo  desl)arru;a- 

revueltas  razones  de  su  autor,  que-  do,  que  no  ay  buen  estomago  que 

mara  con  ellos  al  padre  que  me  lo  pueda  leer."    Apud  Mayans  y 

engendro  si  andubiera  en  figura  de  Siscar,  Origenes,  torn.  ii.  p.  158. 
caballero  andante."     The  author 


216 


CASTILIAN  LITERATURE. 


i. 


Uallads  or 
romances. 


part  to  a  high  degree  of  literary  merit.  Perhaps  such 
a  result  might  have  been  achieved,  but  for  the  sub- 
lime parody  of  Cervantes,  which  cut  short  the 
whole  race  of  knights-errant,  and  by  the  fine  irony, 
which  it  threw  around  the  mock  heroes  of  chivalry, 
extinguished  them  for  ever. 7 

The  most  popular  poetry  of  this  period,  that 
springing  from  the  body  of  the  people,  and  most 
intimately  addressed  to  it,  is  the  ballads,  or  roman- 
ces, as  they  are  termed  in  Spain.  These  indeed 
were  familiar  to  the  Peninsula  as  far  back  as  the 
twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries;  but  in  the  present 
reign  they  received  a  fresh  impulse  from  the  war 
with  Granada,  and  composed,  under  the  name  of 
the  Moorish  ballads,  what  may  perhaps  be  regarded, 
without  too  high  praise,  as  the  most  exquisite  pop- 
ular minstrelsy  of  any  age  or  country. 
Early cui-  The  humble  narrative  lyrics  making  up  the  mass 
in  Spain.  0f  uaua(j  poetry,  and  forming  the  natural  expres- 
sion of  a  simple  state  of  society,  would  seem  to  be 
most  abundant  in  nations  endowed  with  keen  sen- 
sibilities, and  placed  in  situations  of  excitement 
and  powerful  interest,  fitted  to  develope  them. 
The  light  and  lively  French  have  little  to  boast  of 


7  The  labors  of  Bowles,  Rios, 
Arrieta,  Pellicer,  and  Navarrete, 
would  seem  to  have  left  little  to 
desire  in  regard  to  the  illustration 
of  Cervantes.  But  the  commen- 
taries of  Clemencin,  published 
since  this  chapter  was  written,  in 
1833,  show  how  much  yet  remained 
to  be  supplied.  They  afford  the 
most  copious  illustrations,  both  lit- 
erary and  historical  of  his  author, 
and  exhibit  that  nice  taste  in  ver- 


bal criticism,  which  is  not  always 
joined  with  such  extensive  erudi- 
tion. Unfortunately,  the  prema- 
ture death  of  Clemencin  has  left 
the  work  unfinished  ;  but  the  frag- 
ment completed,  which  reaches  to 
the  close  of  the  Fiist  Part,  is  of 
sufficient  value  permanently  to  as- 
sociate the  name  of  its  author  with 
that  of  the  greatest  genius  of  his 
country. 


ROMANTIC  FICTION  AND  POETRY. 


217 


in  this  way.8    The  Italians,  with  a  deeper  poetic  chatter 

XX 

feeling,  were  too  early  absorbed  in  the  gross  busi-   — - r 

ness  habits  of  trade,  and  their  literature  received 
too  high  a  direction  from  its  master  spirits,  at  its 
very  commencement,  to  allow  any  considerable  de- 
viation in  this  track.  The  countries  where  it  has 
most  thriven,  are  probably  Great  Britain  and  Spain. 
The  English  and  the  Scotch,  whose  constitutionally 
pensive  and  even  melancholy  temperament  has  been 
deepened  by  the  sober  complexion  of  the  climate, 
were  led  to  the  cultivation  of  this  poetry  still  fur- 
ther by  the  stirring  scenes  of  feudal  warfare  in 
which  they  were  engaged,  especially  along  the  bor- 
ders. The  Spaniards,  to  similar  sources  of  excite- 
ment, added  that  of  high  religious  feeling  in  their 
struggles  with  the  Saracens,  which  gave  a  some- 
what loftier  character  to  their  effusions.  Fortunate- 
ly for  them,  their  early  annals  gave  birth,  in  the  Cid, 
to  a  hero,  whose  personal  renown  was  identified 
with  that  of  his  country,  round  whose  name  might 
be  concentrated  all  the  scattered  lights  of  song, 
thus  enabling  the  nation  to  build  up  its  poetry  on 
the  proudest  historic  recollections.9  The  feats  of 
many  other  heroes,  fabulous  as  wTell  as  real,  were 


8  The  fabliaux  cannot  fairly  be 
considered  as  an  exception  to  this. 
These  graceful  little  performances, 
the  work  of  professed  bards,  who 
had  nothing  further  in  view  than 
the  amusement  of  a  listless  audi- 
ence, have  little  claim  to  be  consid- 
ered as  the  expression  of  national 
feeling  or  sentiment.  The  poetry 
of  the  south  of  France,  more  im- 
passioned and  lyrical  in  its  charac- 
ter, wears  the  stamp,  not  merely 


of  patrician  elegance,  but  refined 
artifice,  which  must  not  be  con- 
founded with  the  natural  flow  of 
popular  minstrelsy. 

9  How  far  the  achievements 
claimed  for  the  Campeador  are 
strictly  true,  is  little  to  the  purpose. 
It  is  enough  that  they  were  receiv- 
ed as  true,  throughout  the  Penin- 
sula, as  far  back  as  the  twelfth,  or, 
at  latest,  the  thirteenth  century. 


VOL.  II. 


28 


218 


CASTILIAN  LITERATURE. 


part     permitted  to  swell  the  stream  of  traditionary  verse  ; 

  and  thus  a  body  of  poetical  annals,  springing  up  as 

it  were  from  the  depths  of  the  people,  was  be- 
queathed from  sire  to  son,  contributing,  perhaps, 
more  powerfully  than  any  real  history  could  have 
done,  to  infuse  a  common  principle  of  patriotism 
into  the  scattered  members  of  the  nation. 

s<m-  There  is  considerable  resemblance  between  the 

iiice  to  the 

ylis,u  early  Spanish  ballad  and  the  British.  The  latter 
affords  more  situations  of  pathos  and  deep  tender- 
ness, particularly  those  of  suffering,  uncomplaining 
love,  a  favorite  theme  with  old  English  poets  of 
every  description.  10  We  do  not  find,  either,  in  the 
ballads  of  the  Peninsula,  the  wild,  romantic  adven- 
tures of  the  roving  outlaw,  of  the  Robin  Hood 
genus,  which  enter  so  largely  into  English  minstrel- 
sy. The  former  are  in  general  of  a  more  sustained 
and  chivalrous  character,  less  gloomy,  and  although 
fierce  not  so  ferocious,  nor  so  decidedly  tragical  in 
their  aspect,  as  the  latter.  The  ballads  of  the  Cid, 
however,  have  many  points  in  common  with  the 
border  poetry ;  the  same  free  and  cordial  manner, 
the  same  love  of  military  exploit,  relieved  by  a 
certain  tone  of  generous  gallantry,  and  accompa- 
nied by  a  strong  expression  of  national  feeling. 

wtreby.       The  resemblance  between  the  minstrelsy  of  the 

i0  One   exception,  among  oth-  find  a  version  of  it  in  the  "  An- 

ers,  readily  occurs  in  the  pathetic  cient  Poetry    and  Romances  of 

old  ballad  of  the  Conde  Alarcos,  Spain  "  from  the  pen  of  Mr.  Bow- 

whose  woful  catastrophe,  with  the  ring,  to  whom  the  literary  world 

unresisting  suffering  of  the  count-  is  so  largely  indebted  for  an  ac- 

ess,  suggests  many  points  of  co-  quaintance  with  the  popular  min- 

incidence  with  the  English  min-  strelsy  of  Europe, 
strelsy.    The  English  reader  will 


ROMANTIC  FICTION  AND  POETRY. 


219 


two  countries  vanishes,  however,  as  we  approach  chapter 
the  Moorish  ballads.  The  Moorish  wars  had  al-  xx 
ways  afforded  abundant  themes  of  interest  for  the 
Castilian  muse ;  but  it  was  not  till  the  fall  of  the 
capital,  that  the  very  fountains  of  song  were  brok- 
en up,  and  those  beautiful  ballads  were  produced, 
which  seem  like  the  echoes  of  departed  glory,  lin- 
gering round  the  ruins  of  Granada.  Incompetent 
as  these  pieces  may  be  as  historical  records,  they 
are  doubtless  sufficiently  true  to  manners.  11  They 
present  a  most  remarkable  combination,  of  not 
merely  the  exterior  form,  but  the  noble  spirit  of 
European  chivalry,  with  the  gorgeousness  and 
effeminate  luxury  of  the  east.  They  are  brief, 
seizing  single  situations  of  the  highest  poetic  inter- 
est, and  striking  the  eye  of  the  reader  with  a  bril- 
liancy of  execution,  so  artless  in  appearance  withal 
as  to  seem  rather  the  effect  of  accident  than  study. 
We  are  transported  to  the  gay  seat  of  Moorish 
power,  and  witness  the  animacing  bustle,  its  pomp 

11  I  have  already  noticed    the  in  prose,  emhodied  many  of  the 

insufficiency  of  the  romances  to  old  Moorish  ballads  in  it,  whose 

authentic  history,  Part.  I.  Chap,  singular  beauty,  combined  with  the 

8,  Note  30.    My  conclusions  there  romantic  and  picturesque  character 

have  been  confirmed   by  Mr.  Ir-  of  the  work  itself,  soon  made  it 

ving,  (whose  researches  have  led  extremely  popular,  until  at  length 

him  in  a  similar  direction,)  in  his  it  seems  to  have  acquired  a  degree 

"  Alhambra,"  published  nearly  a  of  the  historical  credit  claimed  for 

year  after  the  above  note  was  writ-  it  by  its  author  as  a  translation 

ten.  from  an  Arabian  chronicle  ;  a  cred- 

The  great  source  of  the  pop-  it  which  has  stood  it  in  good  stead 
ular  misconceptions  respecting  the  with  the  tribe  of  travel-mongers 
domestic  history  of  Granada,  is  and  raconteurs,  persons  always  of 
Gines  Perez  de  Hyta,  whose  work,  easy  faith,  who  have  propagated 
under  the  title  of  "  Historia  de  los  its  fables  far  and  wide.  Their 
Vandos  de  los  Zegries  y  Abencer-  credulity,  however,  may  be  par- 
rages,  Cavalleros  Moros  de  Grana-  doned  in  what  has  imposed  on 
da,  y  las  Guerras  Civiles  que  huvo  the  perspicacity  of  so  cautious  an 
en  ella,"  was  published  at  Alcala  historian  as  Muller.  Allgemeine 
in  1601.     This  romance,  written  Geschichte,  (1817,)  band  ii.  p.  504. 


220 


CASTIUAN  LITERATURE. 


part     and  its  revelry,  prolonged  to  the  last  hour  of  its 

 existence.  The  bull-fight  of  the  Vivarrambla,  the 

graceful  tilt  of  reeds,  the  amorous  knights  with 
their  quaint  significant  devices,  the  dark  Zegris, 
or  Gomeres,  and  the  royal,  self-devoted  Abencer- 
rages,  the  Moorish  maiden  radiant  at  the  tourney, 
the  moonlight  serenade,  the  stolen  interview,  where 
the  lover  gives  vent  to  all  the  intoxication  of  pas- 
sion in  the  burning  language  of  Arabian  metaphor 
and  hyperbole,  12  —  these,  and  a  thousand  similar 
scenes  are  brought  before  the  eye,  by  a  succession 
of  rapid  and  animated  touches,  like  the  lights  and 
shadows  of  a  landscape.  The  light  trochaic  struc- 
ture of  the  redondilla, 13  as  the  Spanish  ballad 


12  Thus,  in  one  of  their  romances, 
we  have  a  Moorish  lady  "  shed- 
ding drops  of  liquid  silver,  and 
scattering  her  hair  of  Arabian 
gold  "  over  the  corpse  of  her 
murdered  husband ! 

"  Sobre  el  euerpo  de  Albencayde 
Peslila  litjuida  plata, 
Y  convertida  en  cabellos 
Esparce  el  oro  de  Arabia." 

Can  any  thing  be  more  oriental 
than  this  imagery?  In  another  we 
have  M  an  hour  of  years  of  impa- 
tient hopes";  a  passionate  sally, 
that  can  scarcely  be  outmatched 
by  Scriblerus.  This  taint  of  ex- 
aggeration, however,  so  far  from 
being  peculiar  to  the  popular  min- 
strelsy, has  found  its  way,  probably 
through  this  channel  in  part,  into 
most  of  the  poetry  of  the  Penin- 
sula. 

13  The  redondilla  may  be  consid- 
ered as  the  basis  of  Spanish  versi- 
fication. It  is  of  great  antiquity, 
and  compositions  in  it  are  still  ex- 
tant, as  old  as  the  time  of  the  in- 
fante Don  Manuel,  at  the  close  of 


the  thirteenth  century.  (SeeCan- 
cionero  General,  fol.  207.)  The 
redondilla  admits  of  great  variety ; 
but  in  the  romances  it  is  most 
frequently  found  to  consist  of  eight 
syllables,  the  last  foot,  and  some 
or  all  of  the  preceding,  as  the  case 
may  be,  being  trochees.  (Rengi- 
fo,  Arte  PoeticaEspanola,  (Barce- 
lona, 1727,)  cap.  9,  44.)  Critics 
have  derived  this  delightful  meas- 
ure from  various  sources.  Sarmi- 
ento  traces  it  to  the  hexameter  of 
the  ancient  Romans,  which  may  be 
bisected  into  something  analogous 
to  the  redondillas.  (Memorias, 
pp.  168-171.)  Bouterwek  thinks 
it  may  have  been  suggested  by  the 
songs  of  the  Roman  soldiery. 
(Geschichte  der  Poesie  und  Be- 
redsamkeit,  band  iii.  Einleitung, 
p.  20.)  —  Velazquez  borrows  it 
from  the  rhyming  hexameters  of 
the  Spanish  Latin  poets,  of  which 
he  gives  specimens  of  the  begin- 
ning of  the  fourteenth  century. 
(Poesia  Castellana,  pp.  77,  78.) 
Lattr  critics  refer  its  derivation  to 


ROMANTIC  FICTION  AND  POETRY. 


221 


measure  is  called,  rolling  on  its  graceful,  negligent  chapter 
asonante,  M  whose  continued  repetition  seems  by  its  — — — 
monotonous  melody  to  prolong  the  note  of  feeling 
originally  struck,  is  admirably  suited  by  its  flexibil- 
ity to  the  most  varied  and  opposite  expression  ; 
a  circumstance  which  has  recommended  it  as  the 
ordinary  measure  of  dramatic  dialogue. 

Nothing  can  be  more  agreeable  than  the  gen-  its  time  and 

n  °  °  origin. 

eral  effect  of  the  Moorish  ballads,  which  combine 
the  elegance  of  a  riper  period  of  literature,  with 
the  natural  sweetness   and  simplicity,  savouring 


the  Arabic.  Conde  has  given  a 
translation  of  certain  Spanish-Ara- 
bian poems,  in  the  measure  of  the 
original,  from  which  it  is  evident, 
that  the  hemistich  of  an  Arabian 
verse  corresponds  perfectly  with 
the  redondilla.  (See  his  Domi- 
nation de  los  Arabes,  passim.) 
The  same  author,  in  a  treatise, 
which  lie  never  published,  on  the 
"  poesia  oriental,"  shows  more 
precisely  the  intimate  affinity  sub- 
sisting between  the  metrical  form 
of  the  Arabian  and  the  old  Castil- 
ian  verse.  The  reader  will  find 
an  analysis  of  his  manuscript  in 
Part.  I.  Chap.  8,  Note  49,  of  this 
History. 

This  theory  is  rendered  the  more 
plausible,  by  the  influence  which 
the  Arabic  has  exercised  on  Cas- 
tilian  versification  in  other  respects, 
as  in  the  prolonged  repetition  of 
the  rhyme,  for  example,  which  is 
wholly  borrowed  from  the  Spanish 
Arabs  ;  whose  superior  cultivation 
naturally  atfected  the  unformed  lit- 
erature of  their  'neighbours,  and 
through  no  channel  more  obviously 
than  its  popular  minstrelsy. 

14  The  asonante  is  a  rhyme 
made  by  uniformity  of  the  vowels, 
without  reference  to  the  conso- 
nants ;  the  regular  rhyme,  which 
obtains  in  other  European  litera- 


tures, is  distinguished  in  Spain  by 
the  term  consonants.  Thus  the 
four  following  words,  taken  at  ran- 
dom from  a  Spanish  ballad,  are 
consecutive  asonantes ;  regozijo, 
pellico,  luzido,  amaritto.  In  this 
example,  the  two  last  syllables 
have  the  assonance  ;  although 
this  is  not  invariable,  it  sometimes 
falling  on  the  antepenultima  and 
the  final  syllable.  (See  Rengifo, 
Arte  Poetica  Espafiola,  pp.  214, 
215,  218.)  There  is  a  wild,  art- 
less melody  in  the  asonante,  and  a 
graceful  movement  coming  some- 
where, as  it  does,  betwixt  regular 
rhyme  and  blank  verse,  which 
would  make  its  introduction  very 
desirable,  but  not  very  feasible,  in 
our  own  language.  An  attempt 
of  the  kind  has  been  made  by  a 
clever  writer,  in  the  Retrospective 
Review.  (Vol.  iv.  art.  2.)  If  it 
has  failed,  it  is  from  the  impedi- 
ments presented  by  the  language, 
which  has  not  nearly  the  same 
amount  of  vowel  terminations,  nor 
of  simple  uniform  vowel  sounds, 
as  the  Spanish  ;  the  double  termi- 
nation, however  full  of  grace  and 
beauty  in  the  Castilian,  assumes, 
perhaps  from  the  effect  of  associ- 
ation, rather  a  doggrel  air  in  the 
English . 


222 


CAST1LJAN  LITERATURE. 


part     sometimes  even  of  the  rudeness,  of  a  primitive 

•  ■ —  age.    Their  merits  have  raised  them  to  a  sort  of 

classical  dignity  in  Spain,  and  have  led  to  their 
cultivation  by  a  higher  order  of  writers,  and  down 
to  a  far  later  period,  than  in  any  other  country  in 
Europe.  The  most  successful  specimens  of  this 
imitation  may  be  assigned  to  the  early  part  of  the 
seventeenth  century ;  but  the  age  was  too  late  to 
enable  the  artist,  with  all  his  skill,  to  seize  the  true 
coloring  of  the  antique.  It  is  impossible,  at  this 
period,  to  ascertain  the  authors  of  these  venerable 
lyrics,  nor  can  the  exact  time  of  their  production 
be  now  determined  ;  although,  as  their  subjects  are 
chiefly  taken  from  the  last  days  of  the  Spanish 
Arabian  empire,  the  larger  part  of  them  was  pro- 
bably posterior,  and,  as  they  were  printed  in  collec- 
tions at  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century, 
could  not  have  been  long  posterior,  to  the  capture 
of  Granada.  How  far  they  may  be  referred  to  the 
conquered  Moors,  is  uncertain.  Many  of  these 
wrote  and  spoke  the  Castilian  with  elegance,  and 
there  is  nothing  improbable  in  the  supposition,  that 
they  should  seek  some  solace  under  present  evils  in 
the  splendid  visions  of  the  past.  The  bulk  of  this 
poetry,  however,  was  in  all  probability  the  creation 
of  the  Spaniards  themselves,  naturally  attracted  by 
the  picturesque  circumstances  in  the  character  and 
condition  of  the  conquered  nation  to  invest  them 
with  noetic  interest. 
Its  high  re-  The  Moorish  romances  fortunately  appeared  after 
the  introduction  of  printing  into  the  Peninsula,  so 
that  they  were  secured  a  permanent  existence,  in- 


ROMANTIC  FICTION  AND  POETRY. 


223 


stead  of  perishing  with  the  breath  that  made  them,  chapter 

XX 

like  so  many  of  their  predecessors.  This  misfor-  — 
tune,  which  attaches  to  so  much  of  popular  poetry 
in  all  nations,  is  not  imputable  to  any  insensibility 
in  the  Spaniards  to  the  excellence  of  their  own. 
Men  of  more  erudition  than  taste  may  have  held 
<hem  light,  in  comparison  with  more  ostentatious 
and  learned  productions.  This  fate  has  befallen 
them  in  other  countries  than  Spain.15  But  persons 
of  finer  poetic  feeling,  and  more  enlarged  spirit 
of  criticism,  have  estimated  them  as  a  most  essen- 
tial and  characteristic  portion  of  Castilian  literature. 
Such  was  the  judgment  of  the  great  Lope  de  Vega, 
who,  after  expatiating  on  the  extraordinary  com- 
pass and  sweetness  of  the  romance,  and  its  adapta- 
tion to  the  highest  subjects,  commends  it  as  worthy 
oi  all  estimation  for  its  peculiar  national  charac- 
ter.16   The  modern  Spanish  writers  have  adopted  a 


!5  This  may  be  still  further  in- 
ferred from  the  tenor  of  a  humor- 
ous, satirical  old  romance,  in  which 
the  writer  implores  the  justice  of 
AdoIIo  on  the  heads  of  the  swarm 
of  traitor  poets,  who  have  deserted 
the  ancient  themes  of  song,  the 
Cids,  the  Laras,  the  Gonzalez,  to 
celebrate  the  Ganzuls  and  Abder- 
rahmans  and  the  fantastical  fables 
of  the  Moors. 

"Tanta  Zayda  y  Adalifa, 
tanta  Draguta  y  Daraxa, 
tanto  Azarque  y  tanto  Adulce, 
tanto  Gazul,  y  Abenamar, 
tanto  alquizer  y  marlota, 
tanto  alinayzar,  y  almalafa, 
tantas  emprisas  y  plumas, 
•iintas  cifras  y  medallas, 
tanta  roperia  Mora. 
V  en  vanderillas  y  adargas, 
tanto  mote,  y  tantas  motas 
muera  yo  sino  me  cansan." 

***** 
Los  Alfonsos,  los  Henricos, 
loa  Sanchos,  y  los  de  Lara, 


que  es  dellos,  y  que  es  del  Cid  ? 
tanto  olvido  en  glorias  tantas  ? 
ninguna  plmna  las  buela, 
ninguna  Musa  las  canta  i 
Justicia,  Apollo,  justicia, 
vengadores  rayos  lanca 
contra  Poetas  Moriscos." 

Dr.  Johnson's  opinions  are  well 
known,  in  regard  to  this  department 
of  English  literature,  which,  by  his 
ridiculous  parodies,  he  succeeded 
for  a  time  in  throwing  into  the 
shade,  or,  in  the  language  of  his 
admiring  biographer,  made  "per- 
fectly contemptible." 

Petrarch,  with  like  pedantry, 
rested  his  hopes  of  fame  on  his 
Latin  epic,  and  gave  away  his  lyr- 
ics, as  alms  to  ballad-singers.  Pos- 
terity, deciding  on  surer  principles 
of  taste,  has  reversed  both  these 
decisions. 

16  "  Algunos  quieren  que  sean  la 
cartilla  de  los  Poetas;  yo  no  lo 


224 


CASTILIAN  LITERATURE. 


part     similar  tone  of  criticism,  insisting  on  its  study,  as 
—        essential  to  a  correct  appreciation  and  comprehen- 
sion of  the  genius  of  the  language.17 
Numerous       The  Castilian  ballads  were  first  printed  in  the 

editions  of  A 

me  baiiad*  «  Cancionero  General"  of  Fernando  del  Castillo, 
in  1511.  They  were  first  incorporated  into  a  sep- 
arate work,  by  Sepulveda,  under  the  name  of  "  Ro- 
mances sacados  de  Historias  iVntiguas,"  printed  at 
Antwerp,  in  1551. 18  Since  that  period,  they  have 
passed  into  repeated  editions,  at  home  and  abroad, 
especially  in  Germany,  where  they  have  been  illus- 
trated by  able  critics. 19  Ignorance  of  their  authors, 
and  of  the  era  of  their  production,  has  prevented 
any  attempt  at  exact  chronological  arrangement;  a 
circumstance  rendered,  moreover,  nearly  impossible, 
by  the  perpetual  modification  which  the  original 
style  of  the  more  ancient  ballads  has  experienced, 
in  their  transition  through  successive  generations ; 
so  that,  with  one  or  two  exceptions,  no  earlier  date 


siento  assi ;  antes  bien  los  hallo  ca- 
paces,  no  solo  de  exprimir  y  de- 
clarar  qualquier  concepto  con  facil 
dulzura,  pero  de  prosequir  toda 
grave  accion  de  numeroso  Poema. 
Y  soy  tan  de  veras  Espailol,  que 
por  ser  en  nuestro  idioma  natural 
este  genero,  no  me  puedo  persuadir 
que  no  sea  digno  de  toda  estima- 
cion."  (Coleccion  de  Obras  Suel- 
tas,  (Madrid,  1776-9,)  torn.  iv.  p. 
170,  rrologo.)  In  another  place, 
he  finely  styles  them  "  Iliads  with- 
out a  Homer." 

17  See,  among  others,  the  enco- 
miastic and  animated  criticism  of 
Fernandez  and  Quintana.  Fernan- 
dez, Poesias  Escogidas,  de  Nuestros 
Dancioneros  y  Romanceros  Anti- 
guos,  (Madrid,  1796,)  torn,  xvi., 


Prologo. —  Quintana,  Poesias  Se- 
lectas  Castellanas,  Introd.  art.  4. 

J8  Nic.  Antonio,  Bibliotheca  No- 
va, torn.  ii.  p.  10.  —  The  Spanish 
translators  of  Bouterwek,  have  no- 
ticed the  principal  "  collections  and 
earliest  editions  "  of  the  Romances. 
This  original  edition  of  Sepulveda 
has  escaped  their  notice.  See  Li- 
teratura  Espafiola,  pp.  217,  218. 

19  See  Grimm,  Depping,  Her- 
der, &c.  This  last  poet  has  em- 
braced a  selection  of  the  Cid  bal- 
lads, chronologically  arranged,  and 
translated  with  eminent  simplicity 
and  spirit,  if  not  with  the  scrupu- 
lous fidelity  usually  aimed  at  by  tbe 
Germans.  See  his  Sammtliche 
Werke,  (Wien,  1913,)  band  iii. 


ROMANTIC  FICTION  AND  POETRY 


225 


should  probably  be  assigned  to  the  oldest  of  them,  chapter 


20 


in  their  present  form,  than  the  fifteenth  century. 
Another  system  of  classification  has  been  adopted, 
of  distributing  them  according  to  their  subjects ; 
and  independent  collections  also  of  the  separate 
departments,  as  ballads  of  the  Cid,  of  the  Twelve 
Peers,  the  Morisco  ballads,  and  the  like,  have  been 
repeatedly  published,  both  at  home  and  abroad.21 

The  higher,  and  educated  classes  of  the  nation,  Lyri 
were  not  insensible  to  the  poetic  spirit,  which  drew 
forth  such  excellent  minstrelsy  from  the  body  of  the 
people.  Indeed  Castilian  poetry  bore  the  same 
patrician  stamp  through  the  whole  of  the  present 
reign,  which  had  been  impressed  on  it  in  its  infancy. 


xx. 


poetry. 


20  Sarmiento.Memorias,  pp.  242, 
L'13.  — Moratin  considers  that  none 
have  come  down  to  us,  in  their 
original  costume,  of  an  earlier  date 
than  John  II. 's  reign,  the  first  half 
of  the  fifteenth  century.  (Obras, 
torn.  i.  p.  84.)  The  Spanish  trans- 
lators of  Bouterwek  transcribe  a  ro- 
mance, relating  to  the  Cid,  from  the 
fathers  Berganza  and  Merino,  pur- 
porting to  exhibit  the  primitive,  un- 
corrupted  diction  of  the  thirteenth 
century.  Native  critics  are  of 
course  the  only  ones  competent  to 
questions  of  this  sort ;  but,  to  the 
less  experienced  eye  of  a  foreigner, 
the  style  of  this  ballad  would  seem 
to  resemble  much  less  that  genuine 
specimen  of  the  versification  of  the 
preceding  age,  the  poem  of  the 
Cid,  than  the  compositions  of  the 
fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries. 

21  The  principle  of  philosophical 
arrangement,  if  it  may  so  be  called, 
is  pursued  still  further  in  the  latest 
Spanish  publications  of  the  ro- 
mances, where  the  Moorish  min- 
strelsy is  embodied  in  a  separate 
volume,  and  distributed  with  refer- 
ence to  its  topics.    This  system  is 

VOL.  II.  29 


the  more  practicable  with  this  class 
of  ballads,  since  it  far  exceeds  in 
number  any  other.  See  Duran, 
Romancero  de  Romances  Moriscos. 

The  Romancero  I  have  used  is 
the  ancient  edition  of  Medina  del 
Campo,  1G02.  It  is  divided  into 
nine  parts,  though  it  is  not  easy  to 
see  on  what  principle,  since  the 
productions  of  most  opposite  date 
and  tenor  are  brought  into  juxia- 
position.  The  collection  contains 
nearly  a  thousand  ballads,  which, 
however,  fall  far  short  of  the  entire 
number  preserved,  as  may  easily 
be  seen  by  reference  to  other  com- 
pilations. When  to  this  is  added 
the  consideration  of  the  large  num- 
ber which  insensibly  glided  into 
oblivion  without  ever  coming  to  the 
press,  one  may  form  a  notion  of 
the  immense  mass  of  these  humble 
lyrics,  which  floated  among  the 
common  people  of  Spain  ;  and  we 
shall  be  the  less  disposed  to  wonder 
at  the  proud  and  chivalrous  bearing 
that  marks  even  the  peasantry  of  a 
nation,  which  seems  to  breathe  the 
very  air  of  romantic  song. 


22G 


CASTILIAN  LITERATURE. 


part     Fortunately  the  new  art  of  printing  was  employed 

 . —  here,  as  in  the  case  of  the  romances,  to  arrest  those 

fugitive  sallies  of  imagination,  which  in  other  coun- 
tries were  permitted,  from  want  of  this  care,  to 
pass  into  oblivion ;  and  cancioneros,  or  collections 
of  lyrics,  were  published,  embodying  the  produc- 
tions of  this  reign  and  that  of  John  the  Second, 
thus  bringing  under  one  view  the  poetic  culture  of 
the  fifteenth  century, 
canc.onero       The  earliest  cancionero  printed  was  at  Saragossa, 

General.         #  r  ° 

in  1492.  It  comprehended  the  works  of  Mena, 
Manrique,  and  six  or  seven  other  bards  of  less 
note.22  A  far  more  copious  collection  was  made  by 
Fernando  del  Castillo,  and  first  published  at  Valen- 
cia, in  1511,  under  the  title  of  "  Cancionero  Gen- 
eral," since  which  period  it  has  passed  into  repeated 
editions.  This  compilation  is  certainly  more  cred- 
itable to  Castillo's  industry,  than  to  his  discrimina- 
tion or  power  of  arrangement.  Indeed,  in  this 
latter  respect  it  is  so  defective,  that  it  would  almost 
seem  to  have  been  put  together  fortuitously,  as  the 
pieces  came  to  hand.  A  large  portion  of  the  au- 
thors appear  to  have  been  persons  of  rank ;  a  cir- 


^  The  title  of  this  work  was 
"  Coplas  de  Vita  Christi,  de  la  Cena 
con  la  Pasion,  y  de  la  Veronica  con 
la  Resurreccion  de  nuestro  Redem- 
tor.  E  las  siete  Angustias  e  siete 
Gozos  de  nuestra  Sefiora,  con  otras 
obras  mucho  provechosas."  It  con- 
cludes with  the  following-  notice, 
"  Fue  la  presente  obra  emprentada 
en  la  insigne  Ciudad  de  Zaragoza 
de  Aragon  pur  industria  e  expensas 
de  Paulo  Hurus  de  Constancia  ale- 
man.  A  27  dias  de  Noviembre, 
1492."     (Mendez,  Typographia 


Espafiola,  pp.  134,  136.)  It  ap- 
pears there  were  two  or  three  oth- 
er cancioneros  compiled,  none  of 
which,  however,  were  admitted  to 
the  honors  of  the  press.  (Bouter- 
wek,  Literatura  Espafiola,  nota.) 
The  learned  Castro,  some  fifty 
years  since,  published  an  analysis 
with  copious  extracts  from  one  of 
these  made  by  Baena,  the  Jewish 
physician  of  John  II.,  a  copy  of 
which  existed  in  the  royal  library 
of  the  Escurial.  Bibliotheca  Es- 
pafiola, torn.  i.  p.  265  et  seq. 


ROMANTIC  FICTION  AND  FOETRY. 


227 


eumstance  to  which  perhaps  they  were  indebted,  chapter 

more  than  to  any  poetic  merit,  for  a  place  in  the  — _ — 
miscellany,  which  might  have  been  decidedly  in- 
creased in  value  by  being  diminished  in  bulk.23 

The  ivorks  of  devotion  with  which  the  collection  Its  i^ary 

^  value. 

opens,  are  on  the  whole  the  feeblest  portion  of  it. 
We  discern  none  of  the  inspiration  and  lyric  glow, 
which  were  to  have  been  anticipated  from  the  de- 
vout, enthusiastic  Spaniard.  We  meet  with  ana- 
grams on  the  Virgin,  glosses  on  the  creed  and 
pater  noster,  canciones  on  original  sin  and  the  like 
unpromising  topics,  all  discussed  in  the  most  bald, 
prosaic  manner,  with  abundance  of  Latin  phrase, 
scriptural  allusion,  and  commonplace  precept,  un- 
enlivened by  a  single  spark  of  true  poetic  fire,  and 
presenting  altogether  a  farrago  of  the  most  fantastic 
pedantry. 

The  lighter,  especially  the  amatory  poems,  are 
much  more  successfully  executed,  and  the  primitive 
forms  of  the  old  Castilian  versification  are  developed 
with  considerable  variety  and  beauty.  Among  the 
most  agreeable  effusions  in  this  way,  may  be  no- 
ticed those  of  Diego  Lopez  de  Haro,  who,  to  bor- 
row the  encomium  of  a  contemporary,  was  "  the 
mirror  of  gallantry  for  the  young  cavaliers  of  the 
time."    There  are  few  verses  in  the  collection 

23  Cancionero  General,  passim.  Cancionero  passed  through  several 

—  Moratin  has  given  a  list  of  the  editions,  the  latest  of  which  ap- 

men  of  rank  who  contributed  to  this  peared  in  1573.    See  a  catalogue, 

miscellany  ;  it  contains  the  names  not  entirely  complete,  of  the  differ- 

of  the  highest  nobility  of  Spain,  ent  Spanish  Cancioneros  in  Bou- 

(Orig.  del  Teatro  Espafiol,  Obras,  terwck,  Literatura  Espafiola,  trad., 

torn.  i.  pp.  85,  86.)     Castillo's  p  217. 


228 


CASTILIAN  LITERATURE. 


part  composed  with  more  facility  and  grace.21  Among 
the  more  elaborate  pieces,  Diego  de  San  Pedro's 
"  Desprecio  de  la  Fortuna  "  may  be  distinguished, 
not  so  much  for  any  poetic  talent  which  it  exhibits, 
as  for  its  mercurial  and  somewhat  sarcastic  tone  of 
sentiment.25  The  similarity  of  subject  may  suggest 
a  parallel  between  it  and  the  Italian  poet  Guidi's 
celebrated  ode  on  Fortune  ;  and  the  different  styles 
of  execution  may  perhaps  be  taken,  as  indicating 
pretty  fairly  the  distinctive  peculiarities  of  the  Tus- 
can and  the  old  Spanish  school  of  poetry.  The 
Italian,  introducing  the  fickle  goddess,  in  person,  on 
the  scene,  describes  her  triumphant  march  over  the 
ruins  of  empires  and  dynasties,  from  the  earliest 
time,  in  a  flow  of  lofty  dithyrambic  eloquence, 
adorned  with  all  the  brilliant  coloring  of  a  stimu- 
lated fancy  and  a  highly  finished  language.  The 
Castilian,  on  the  other  hand,  instead  of  this  splen- 
did personification,  deepens  his  verse  into  a  moral 
tone,  and,  dwelling  on  the  vicissitudes  and  vanities 
of  human  life,  points  his  reflections  with  some 
caustic  warning,  often  conveyed  with  enchanting 
simplicity,  but  without  the  least  approach  to  lyric 
exaltation,  or  indeed  the  affectation  of  it. 

This  proneness  to  moralize  the  song  is  in  truth 
a  characteristic  of  the  old  Spanish  bard.  He  rare- 
ly abandons  himself,  without  reserve,  to  the  frolic 

34  Cancionero  General,  pp.  83-  maybe  often  charged  with  deficient 

89.  —  Oviedo,  Quincuagenas,  MS.  cy  in  chronological  data;  acircum- 

85  Cancionero  General, pp.  158-  stance  perhaps  unavoidable  from 

161.  —  Some  meagre  information  the  obscurity  of   their  subjects, 

of  this  person  is  given  by  Nic.  An-  Bibliotheca  Vetus,  torn.  ii.  lib.  10, 

tonio,  whose  biographical  notices  cap  6. 


< 


ROMANTIC  FICTION  AND  POETRY.  229 

puerilities  so  common  with  the  sister  Muse  of  chapter 
Italy,  _*L_ 

11  Scritta  cosi  come  la  penna  getta, 
Per  fuggir  1'  ozio,  e  non  per  cercar  gloria." 

Jt  is  true,  he  is  occasionally  betrayed  by  verbal 
subtilties  and  other  affectations  of  the  age  ; 26  but 
even  his  liveliest  sallies  are  apt  to  be  seasoned  with 
a  moral,  or  sharpened  by  a  satiric  sentiment.  His 
defects,  indeed,  are  of  the  kind  most  opposed  to 
those  of  the  Italian  poet,  showing  themselves,  es- 
pecially in  the  more  elaborate  pieces,  in  a  certain 
tumid  stateliness  and  overstrained  energy  of  diction. 

On  the  whole,  one  cannot  survey  the  "  Cancion-  L™ 

7  J  of  iyno 

ero  General"  without  some  disappointment  at  the  roetry 
little  progress  of  the  poetic  art,  since  the  reign  of 
John  the  Second,  at  the  beginning  of  the  century. 
The  best  pieces  in  the  collection  are  of  that  date, 
and  no  rival  subsequently  arose  to  compete  with 
the  masculine  strength  of  Mena,  or  the  delicacy 
and  fascinating  graces  of  Santillana.  One  cause 
of  this  tardy  progress  may  have  been,  the  direction 
to  utility  manifested  in  this  active  reign,  which  led 
such  as  had  leisure  for  intellectual  pursuits  to  culti- 
vate science,  rather  than  abandon  themselves  to  the 
mere  revels  of  the  imagination. 

Another  cause  may  be  found  in  the  rudeness  of 


20  There  are  probably  more  di- 
rect pans  in  Petrarch's  lyrics  alone, 
than  in  all  the  Cancionero  General. 
There  is  another  kind  of  niaiserie, 
however,  to  which  the  Spanish 
poets  were  much  addicted,  being 
the  transposition  of  the  word  in 
every  variety  of  sense  and  combi- 
nation j  as,  for  example, 


"  Acordad  vuestros  olvidos 
Y  olvida  vuestros  acuerdos 
Porque  tales  desacuerdos 
Acuerden  vuestros  sentidos,"  &c. 
Cancionero  General,  fol.  226. 

It  was  such  subtilties  as  these, 
entricadas  razones,  as  Cervantes 
calls  them,  that  addled  the  brains 
of  poor  Don  Quixote.  Tom.  i. 
cap.  1. 


230 


CASTILIAN  LITERATURE. 


part  the  language,  whose  delicate  finish  is  so  essential 
 to  the  purposes  of  the  poet,  but  which  was  so  im- 
perfect at  this  period,  that  Juan  de  la  Encina,  a 
popular  writer  of  the  time,  complained  that  he  was 
obliged,  in  his  version  of  Virgil's  Eclogues,  to  coin, 
as  it  were,  a  new  vocabulary,  from  the  want  of 
terms  corresponding  with  the  original,  in  the  old 
one.27  It  was  not  until  the  close  of  the  present 
reign,  when  the  nation  began  to  breathe  awhile 
from  its  tumultuous  career,  that  the  fruits  of  the 
patient  cultivation  which  it  had  been  steadily, 
though  silently  experiencing,  began  to  manifest 
themselves  in  the  improved  condition  of  the  lan- 
guage, and  its  adaptation  to  the  highest  poetical 
uses.  The  intercourse  with  Italy,  moreover,  by 
naturalizing  new  and  more  finished  forms  of  versi- 
fication, afforded  a  scope  for  the  nobler  efforts  of 
the  poet,  to  which  the  old  Castilian  measures,  how- 
ever well  suited  to  the  wild  and  artless  movements 
of  the  popular  minstrelsy,  were  altogether  inade- 
quate. 

copiasof        We  must  not  dismiss  the  miscellaneous  poetrv  of 

Mannque.  1  * 

this  period,  without  some  notice  of  the  "  Coplas  " 
of  Don  Jorge  Manrique,28  on  the  death  of  his  father, 
the  count  of  Paredes,  in  1474. 29    The  elegy  is  of 

27  Velasquez,  Poesia  Castellana,  "  virum    satis    illustrem.  —  Eum 

p.  122.  —  More  than  half  a  centu-  enim  poetam  et  philosophum  natu- 

ry  later,  the  learned  Ambrosio  ra  formavit  ac  peperit."    He  un- 

Morales  complained  of  the  barren-  fortunately  fell  in  a  skirmish,  five 

ness  of  the  Castilian,  which  he  years  after  his  father's  death,  in 

imputed  to  the  too  exclusive  adop-  1470.    Mariana,  Hist,  de  Espafia, 

tion  of  the  Latin  upon  all  subjects  torn.  ii.  p.  531. 
of  dignity  and  importance.  Obras,       29  An  elaborate  character  of  this 

torn.  xiv.  pp.  147,  148.  Quixotic  old  cavalier  may  be  found 

2^  L.  Marineo,  speaking  of  this  in  Pulgar,  Claros  Varones,  tit.  13. 
accomplished  nobleman,  styles  him 


ROMANTIC  FICTION  AND  POETRY. 


231 


considerable  length,  and  is  sustained  throughout  in  chapter 

a  tone  of  the  highest  moral  dignity,  while  the  poet  xx' 

leads  us  tip  from  the  transitory  objects  of  this  lower 
world  to  the  contemplation  of  that  imperishable 
existence,  which  Christianity  has  opened  beyond 
the  grave.  A  tenderness  pervades  the  piece,  which 
may  remind  us  of  the  best  manner  of  Petrarch  ; 
while,  with  the  exception  of  a  slight  taint  of  pe- 
dantry, it  is  exempt  from  the  meretricious  vices  that 
belong  to  the  poetry  of  the  age.  The  effect  of  the 
sentiment  is  heightened  by  the  simple  turns  and 
broken  melody  of  the  old  Castilian  verse,  of  which 
perhaps  this  may  be  accounted  the  most  finished 
specimen  ;  such  would  seem  to  be  the  judgment  of 
his  own  countrymen,30  whose  glosses  and  commen- 
taries on  it  have  swelled  into  a  separate  volume.31 

I  shall  close  this  survey  with  a  brief  notice  of  £plen°hlhe 
the  drama,  whose  foundations  may  be  said  to  have  ama' 
been  laid  during  this  reign.  The  sacred  plays,  or 
mysteries,  so  popular  throughout  Europe  in  the 
middle  ages,  may  be  traced  in  Spain  to  an  ancient 
date.  Their  familiar  performance  in  the  churches, 
by  the  clergy,  is  recognised  in  the  middle  of  the 
thirteenth  century,  by  a  law  of  Alfonso  the  Tenth, 
which,  while  it  interdicted  certain  profane  mum- 


30  "  Don  Jorge  Manrique,"  says 
Lope  de  Vega,  "  cuyas  coplas  Cas- 
tellanas  admiren  los  ingenios  es- 
trangeros  y  merecen  estar  escritas 
con  letras  de  oro."  Obras  Suel- 
tas,  torn.  xii.  Prologo. 

31  Coplas  de  Don  Jorge  Manrique, 
ed.  Madrid,  1779.  —  Dialogo  de 
las  Lenguas,  apud  Mayans  y  Sis- 
car,  Origenes,  torn.  ii.  p.  149.  — 


Manrique's  Coplas  have  also  been 
the  subject  of  a  separate  publica- 
tion in  the  United  States.  Profes- 
sor Longfellow's  version,  accom- 
panying it,  is  well  calculated  to 
give  the  English  reader  a  correct 
notion  of  the  Castilian  bard,  and, 
of  course,  a  very  exaggerated  one 
of  the  literary  culture  of  the  age. 


232 


CASTIJLIAS  LVl  ERATURK. 


merles  that  had  come  into  vogue,  prescribed  the 
legitimate  topics  for  exhibition. 32 

The  transition  from  these  rude  spectacles  to 
more  regular  dramatic  efforts,  was  very  slow  and 
gradual.  In  1414,  an  allegorical  comedy,  com- 
posed by  the  celebrated  Henry,  marquis  of  Villena, 
was  performed  at  Saragossa,  in  the  presence  of  the 
court. 33  In  1469,  a  dramatic  eclogue  by  an  anon- 
ymous author,  was  exhibited  in  the  palace  of  the 
count  of  Urena,  in  the  presence  of  Ferdinand,  on 
his  coming  into  Castile  to  espouse  the  infanta  Is- 
abella. 34     These  pieces  may  be  regarded  as  the 


32  After  proscribing  certain  pro- 
fane mummeries,  the  law  confines 
the  clergy  to  the  representation  of 
such  subjects  as  "  the  birth  of  our 
Saviour,  in  which  is  shown  how 
the  angels  appeared,  announcing 
his  nativity ;  also  his  advent,  and 
the  coming  of  the  three  Magi 
kings  to  worship  him  ;  and  his  re- 
surrection, showing  his  crucifixion 
and  ascension  on  the  third  day  ; 
and  other  such  things  leading  men 
to  do  well  and  live  constant  in 
the  faith."  (Siete  Partidas,  tit.  6, 
ley  34.)  It  is  worth  noting,  that 
similar  abuses  continued  common 
among  the  ecclesiastics,  down  to 
Isabella's  reign,  as  may  be  infer- 
red from  a  decree,  very  similar  to 
the  law  of  the  Partidas  above 
cited,  published  by  the  council 
of  Aranda,  in  1473.  (A pud  Moratin, 
Obras,  torn.  i.  p.  87.)  Moratin 
considers  it  certain,  that  the  re- 
presentation of  the  mysteries  ex- 
isted in  Spain,  as  far  back  as  the 
eleventh  century.  The  principal 
grounds  for  this  conjecture  appear 
to  be,  the  fact  that  such  notorious 
abuses  had  crept  into  practice  by 
the  middle  of  the  thirteenth  centu- 
ry, as  to  require  the  intervention 
of  the  law.     (Ibid.  pp.  11,  13.) 


The  circumstance  would  seem 
compatible  with  a  much  more  re- 
cent origin. 

33  Cervantes,  Comedias  yEntre- 
meses,  (Madrid,  1749,)  torn.  i. 
prologo  de  Nasarre.  —  Velazquez, 
Poesia  Castellana,  p.  86.  —  The 
fifth  volume  of  the  Memoirs  of  the 
Spanish  Royal  Academy  of  His- 
tory, contains  a  dissertation  on  the 
"  national  diversions,"  by  Don 
Gaspar  Melchor  de  Jovellanos, 
replete  with  curious  erudition,  and 
exhibiting  the  discriminating  taste 
to  have  been  expected  from  its  ac- 
complished author.  Among  these 
antiquarian  researches,  the  writer 
has  included  a  brief  view  of  the 
first  theatrical  attempts  in  Spain. 
See  Mem.  de  la  Acad,  de  HieL, 
torn.  v.  Mem.  6. 

34  Moratin,  Obras,  torn.  i.  p. 
115.  —  Nasarre  (Cervantes,  Co- 
medias, pro!.),  Jovellanos  (Mem. 
de  la  Acad,  de  Hist.,  torn.  v. 
Memor.  6.),  Pellicer  (Origen  y 
Progreso  de  la  Comedia,  (1804,*) 
torn.  i.  p.  12.),  and  others,  refer 
the  authorship  of  this  little  piece, 
without  hesitation,  to  Juan  de  la 
Encina,  although  the  year  of  its 
representation  corresponds  precise- 
ly with  that  of  his  birth.  The 


ROMANTIC  FICTION  AND  POETRY. 


233 


earliest  theatrical  attempts,  after  the  religious  dra-  chapter 

XX 

mas  and  popular  pantomimes  already  noticed  ;  but   :  

unfortunately  they  have  not  come  down  to  us. 
The  next  production  deserving  attention  is,  a  "Dia- 
logue between  Love  and  an  Old  Man,"  imputed  to 
Rodrigo  Cota,  a  poet  of  whose  history  nothing 
seems  to  be  known,  and  little  conjectured,  but  that 
he  flourished  during  the  reigns  of  John  the  Second, 
and  Henry  the  Fourth.  The  dialogue  is  written 
with  much  vivacity  and  grace,  and  with  as  much 
dramatic  movement  as  is  compatible  with  only  two 
interlocutors. 35 

A  much  more  memorable  production  is  referred  J^™^ 
to  the  same  author,  the  tragicomedy  of  "  Celes-  Iesuna* 
tina,"  or  "  Calisto  and  Melibea,"  as  it  is  frequent- 
ly called.  The  first  act,  indeed,  constituting  near- 
ly one  third  of  the  piece,  is  all  that  is  ascribed  to 
Cota.  The  remaining  twenty,  which  however 
should  rather  be  denominated  scenes,  were  contin- 


prevalence  of  so  gross  a  blunder 
among  the  Spanish  scholars,  shows 
how  little  the  antiquities  of  their 
theatre  were  studied  before  the 
time  of  Moratin. 

35  This  little  piece  has  been 
published  at  length  by  Moratin,  in 
the  first  volume  of  his  works. 
(See  Origenes  delTeatro  Espafiol, 
Obras,  torn.  i.  pp.  303-314.) 

The  celebrated  marquis  of  San- 
tillana's  poetical  dialogue,  "  Co- 
medieta  da  Ponza,"  has  no  preten- 
sions to  rank  as  a  dramatic  com- 
position, notwithstanding  its  title, 
which  is  indeed  as  little  significant 
of  its  real  character,  as  the  term 
"  Commedia  "is  of  Dante's  epic. 
It  is  a  discourse  on  the  vicissitudes 


of  human  life,  suggested  by  a  sea- 
fight  near  Ponza,  in  1435.  It  is 
conducted  withqut  any  attempt  at 
dramatic  action  or  character,  or, 
indeed,  dramatic  developement  of 
any  sort.  The  same  remarks  may 
be  made  of  the  political  satire, 
"  Mingo  Revulgo,"  which  appear- 
ed in  Henry  IV. 's  reign.  Dia- 
logue was  selected  by  these  au- 
thors as  a  more  popular  and  spirited 
medium  than  direct  narrative  for 
conveying  their  sentiments.  The 
"  Comedieta  da  Ponza"  has  never 
appeared  in  print ;  the  copy  which 
I  have  used  is  a  transcript  from  the 
one  in  the  royal  library  at  Madrid, 
and  belongs  to  Mr.  George  Tick- 
nor. 


VOL.  II. 


30 


234 


CAST1L1AN  LITERATURE. 


C'nticism  on 
it. 


i'akt  ucd  by  another  hand,  some,  though  to  judge  from 
L  the  internal  evidence  afforded  by  the  style,  not 
many  years  later.  The  second  author  was  Fernan- 
do de  Roxas,  bachelor  of  law,  as  he  informs  us, 
who  composed  this  work  as  a  sort  of  intellectual  re- 
laxation, during  one  of  his  vacations.  The  time 
was  certainly  not  misspent.  The  continuation, 
however,  is  not  esteemed  by  the  Castilian  critics  to 
have  risen  quite  to  the  level  of  the  original  act. 36 

The  story  turns  on  a  love  intrigue.  A  Spanish 
youth  of  rank  is  enamoured  of  a  lady,  whose  af- 
fections he  gains  with  some  difficulty,  but  whom 
he  finally  seduces,  through  the  arts  of  an  accom- 
plished courtesan,  whom  the  author  has  introduced 
under  the  romantic  name  of  Celestina.  The  piece, 
although  comic,  or  rather  sentimental  in  its  pro- 
gress, terminates  in  the  most  tragical  catastrophe, 
in  which  all   the  principal   actors  are  involved. 

36  Tragicomedia  de  Calisto  y  dina  del  Campo,  in  1569,  nearly 
Melibea,  (Alcala,  158G,)  Introd.  a  century,  probably,  after  Cota's 
—  Nothing  is  positively  ascertain-  death  ;  another  example  of  the 
ed  respecting-  the  authorship  of  the  obscurity  which  involves  the  his- 
flrst  act.  of  the  Cejestina.  Some  tory  of  the  early  Spanish  drama, 
impute  it  to  Juan  de  Mena ;  others  Many  of  the  Castilian  critics  de- 
with  more  probability  to  Rodrigo  tect  a  flavor  of  antiquity  in  the 
Cota  el  Tio,  of  Toledo,  a  persoi  first  act  which  should  carry  back' 
who,  although  literally  nothing  is  its  composition  as  far  as  John  II. 's 
known  of  him,  has  in  some  way  reign.  Moratin  does  not  discern 
or  other  obtained  the  credit  of  the  this,  however,  and  is  inclined  to 
authorship  of  some  of  the  most  refer  its  production  to  a  date  not 
popular  effusions  of  the  fifteenth  much  more  distant,  if  any,  than 
century  ;  such,  for  example,  as  the  Isabella's  time.  To  the  unpractis- 
Dialogue  above  cited  of  "  Love  ed  eye  of  a  foreigner,  as  far  as 
and  an  Old  Man,"  the  Coplas  style  is  concerned,  the  whole  work 
of  "  Mingo  Revulgo,"  and  this  might  well  seem  the  production  ot 
first  act  of  the  "  Celestina."  The  the  same  period.  Moratin,  Obras, 
principal  foundation  of  these  im-  torn.  i.  pp.  88,  115,  116. —  De- 
putations would  appear  to  be  the  logo  de  las  Lenguas,  apud  Mayans 
bare  assertion  of  an  editor  of  the  y  Siscar,  Origenes,  pp.  165  -  167. 
"Dialogue  between  Love  and  an  — Nic.  Antonio,  Bibliotheca  Nova, 
Old  Man,"  which  appeared  at  Me-  torn.  ii.  p.  263. 


ROMANTIC  FICTION  AND  POETRY . 


235 


The  general  texture  of  the  plot  is  exceedingly  chapter 

clumsy,  yet  it  affords  many  situations  of  deep  and  *x'~. 

varied  interest  in  its  progress.  The  principal  char- 
acters are  delineated  in  the  piece  with  considerable 
skill.  The  part  of  Celestina,  in  particular,  in 
which  a  veil  of  plausible  hypocrisy  is  thrown  over 
the  deepest  profligacy  of  conduct,  is  managed  with 
much  address.  The  subordinate  parts  are  brought 
into  brisk  comic  action,  with  natural  dialogue, 
though  sufficiently  obscene  ;  and  an  interest  of  a 
graver  complexion  is  raised  by  the  passion  of  the 
lovers,  the  timid,  confiding  tenderness  of  the  lady, 
and  the  sorrows  of  the  broken-hearted  parent. 
The  execution  of  the  play  reminds  us  on  the  whole 
less  of  the  Spanish,  than  of  the  old  English  thea- 
tre, in  many  of  its  defects,  as  well  as  beauties ;  in 
the  contrasted  strength  and  imbecility  of  various 
passages  ;  its  intermixture  of  broad  farce  and  deep 
tragedy ;  the  unseasonable  introduction  of  frigid 
metaphor  and  pedantic  allusion  in  the  midst  of  the 
most  passionate  discourses  ;  in  the  unveiled  volup- 
tuousness of  its  coloring,  occasionally  too  gross  for 
any  public  exhibition  ;  but,  above  all,  in  the  general 
strength  and  fidelity  of  its  portraiture. 

The   tragicomedy,  as  it  is  stvied,  of  Celestina.  itor.  ,  the 

°  J  \  "  '    way  to  dm- 

was  obviously  never  intended  for  representation,  to  ™n<  wr,t 
which,  not  merely  the  grossness  of  some  of  the 
details,  but  the  length  and  arrangement  of  the 
piece,  are  unsuitable.  But,  notwithstanding  this, 
and  its  approximation  to  the  character  of  a  ro- 
mance, it  must  be  admitted  to  contain  within  itself 
the  essential  elements  of  dramatic  composition  ;  and, 


23C> 


CAST!  LI  AN  LITERATURE. 


part  as  such,  is  extolled  by  the  Spanish  critics,  as  open- 
'  ing  the  theatrical  career  of  Europe*  A  similar 
claim  has  been  maintained  for  nearly  contempora- 
neous productions  in  other  countries,  and  especially 
for  Politian's  "  Orfeo,"  which,  there  is  little  doubt, 
was  publicly  acted  before  1483.  Notwithstanding 
its  representation,  however,  the  "  Orfeo,"  present- 
ing a  combination  of  the  eclogue  and  the  ode, 
without  any  proper  theatrical  movement,  or  attempt 
at  developement  of  character,  cannot  fairly  come 
within  the  limits  of  dramatic  writing.  A  more  an- 
cient example  than  either,  at  least  as  far  as  the  ex- 
terior forms  are  concerned,  may  be  probably  found 
in  the  celebrated  French  farce  of  Pierre  Pathelin, 
printed  as  early  as  1474,  having  been  repeatedly 
played  during  the  preceding  century,  and  which, 
with  the  requisite  modifications,  still  keeps  posses- 
sion of  the  stage.  The  pretensions  of  this  piece, 
however,  as  a  work  of  art,  are  comparatively  hum- 
ble ;  and  it  seems  fair  to  admit,  that  in  the  higher 
and  more  important  elements  of  dramatic  composi- 
tion, and  especially  in  the  delicate,  and  at  the  same 
time  powerful  delineation  of  character  and  passion, 
the  Spanish  critics  may  be  justified  in  regarding 
the  "  Celestina  "  as  having  led  the  way  in  modern 
Europe. 37 

37  Such  is  the  high  encomium  "  there  is  no  book  in  the  Castilian 
of  the  Abate  Andres,  (Lettera-  which  surpasses  it  in  the  propriety 
tura,  torn.  v.  part.  2,  lib.  1.) —  and  elegance  of  its  diction."  (Don 
Cervantes  does  not  hesitate  to  call  Quixote,  ed.  de  Pellicer,  torn.  i. 
it  "  libro  divino";  and  the  acute  p.  239.  —  Mayans  y  Siscar,  torn, 
author  of  the   "  Dialogo  de   las    ii.  p.  167.) 

Lenguas"  concludes  a  criticism  Its  merits  indeed  seem  in  some 
upon  it  with   the  remark,   that    degree  to  have  disarmed  even  the 


ROMANTIC   FICTION  AND  POETRY. 


237 


Without  deciding  on  its  proper  classification  as  a  chapter 
work  of  art,  however,  its  real  merits  are  settled  by  xx 
its  wide  popularity,  both  at  home  and  abroad.     It  editions  of  it. 
has  been  translated  into  most  of  the  European  lan- 
guages, and  the  preface  to  the  last  edition  publish- 
ed in  Madrid,  so  recently  as  1822,  enumerates 
thirty  editions  of  it  in  Spain  alone,  in  the  course  of 
the  sixteenth  century.    Impressions  were  multi- 
plied in  Italy,  and  at  the  very  time  when  it  was 
interdicted  at  home  on  the  score  of  its  immoral 
tendency.    A  popularity  thus  extending  through 
distant  ages  and  nations,  shows  how  faithfully  it  is 
built  on  the  principles  of  human  nature.38 

The  drama  assumed  the  pastoral  form,  in  its  early  gw^fta 
stages,  in  Spain,  as  in  Italy.  The  oldest  specimens 
in  this  way,  which  have  come  down  to  us,  are  the 
productions  of  Juan  de  la  Encina,  a  contemporary 
of  Roxas.  He  was  born  in  1469,  and,  after  com- 
pleting his  education  at  Salamanca,  was  received 
into  the  family  of  the  duke  of  Alva.  He  continued 
there  several  years,  employed  in  the  composition  of 
various  poetical  works,  among  others,  a  version  of 
Virgil's  Eclogues,  which  he  so  altered  as  to  accom- 
modate them  to  the  principal  events  in  the  reign  of 
Ferdinand  and  Isabella.    He  visited  Italy  in  the 


severity  of  foreign  critics ;  and 
Signorelli,  after  standing  up  stout- 
ly in  defence  of  the  precedence  of 
the  "  Orfoo  "  as  a  dramatic  com- 
position, admits  the  "  Celestina  " 
to  be  a  11  work,  rich  in  various 
beauties,  and  meriting  undoubted 
applause.  In  fact,"  he  continues, 
;'  the  vivacity  of  the  description  of 
character,  and  faithful  portraiture 


of  manners,  have  made  it  immor- 
tal." Storia  Cntica  de'  Teatri  An- 
tichi  e  Moderni,  (Napoli,  1813,) 
torn.  vi.  pp.  146,  147. 

36  Boutervvek,  Literature  Espa- 
fiola,  notas  de  traductores,  p.  234. 
—  Andres,  Letteratura,  torn.  v. 
pp.  170,  171. — Lampillas,  Lette- 
ratura Spagnuola,  torn.  vi.  pp.  57- 
59. 


2(38 


CASTIL1AN  LITERATURE. 


part     beginning  of  the  following  century,  and  was  at- 

—         tracted  by  the  munificent  patronage  of  Leo  the 

Tenth  to  fix  his  residence  at  the  papal  court. 
While  there,  he  continued  his  literary  labors.  He 
embraced  the  ecclesiastical  profession  ;  and  his  skill 
in  music  recommended  him  to  the  office  of  princi- 
pal director  of  the  pontifical  chapel.  He  was  sub- 
sequently presented  with  the  priory  of  Leon,  and 
returned  to  Spain,  where  he  died  in  1534. 39 
ni« dramatic      Encina's  works  first  appeared  at  Salamanca,  in 

eclogues.  A  1 

1496,  collected  into  one  volume,  folio.40  Besides 
other  poetry,  they  comprehend  a  number  of  dra- 
matic eclogues,  sacred  and  profane;  the  former,  sug- 
gested by  topics  drawn  from  Scripture,  like  the  an- 
cient mysteries  ;  the  latter,  chiefly  amatory.  They 
were  performed  in  the  palace  of  his  patron,  the 
duke  of  Alva,  in  the  presence  of  Prince  John,  the 
duke  of  Infantado,  and  other  eminent  persons  of 
the  court ;  and  the  poet  himself  occasionally  assist- 
ed at  the  representation.41 


39  Rojas,  Viage  Entretenido, 
(1614,)  fol.  46.  —  Nic.  Antonio, 
Bihliotheca  Nova,  torn.  i.  p.  684. 
—  Moratin,  Obras,  torn.  i.  pp.  126, 
127.  —  Pellicer,  Origen  de  la  Co- 
media,  torn.  i.  pp.  11,  12. 

40  They  were  published  under 
the  title,  "  Cancionero  de  todas 
las  Obras  de  Juan  de  la  Encina 
con  otras  afiadidas."  (Mendez, 
Typographia  Espanola,  p.  247.) 
Subsequent  impressions  of  his 
works,  more  or  less  complete,  ap- 
peared at  Salamanca  in  1509,  and  at 
Saragossain  1512  and  1516.  —  Mo- 
ratin, Obras,  torn.  i.  p.  127,  nota. 

41  The  comedian  Rojas,  who 
flourished  in  the  beginning  of  the 
following    century,    and  whose 


"  Viage  Entretenido  "  is  so  essen- 
tial to  the  knowledge  of  the  early 
histrionic  art  in  Spain,  identifies  the 
appearance  of  Encina's  Eclogues 
with  the  dawn  of  the  Castilian 
drama.  His  verses  may  be  worth 
quoting. 

"  Que  es  en  nuestra  madre  Espana, 
porque  en  la  dichosa  era, 
que  aquellos  gloriosos  Reyes 
dignos  de  niemoria  eterna 
Don  Fernando  e  Ysabel 
(que  j  a  con  los  santos  reynan) 
de  echar  de  Espana  acabavan 
todos  los  Moriscos,  que  eran 
De  aquel  Reyno  de  Granada, 
y  entouces  se  dava  en  ella 
principio  a  la  Inquisicion, 
se  le  dio  a  nuestra  comedia. 
Juan  de  la  Encina  el  primero, 
aquel  insigne  poeta, 
que  tanto  bien  empezo 


ROMANTIC  FICTION  AND  POETRY. 


239 


Enciiia's  eclogues  are  simple  compositions,  with  chapteh 

little  pretence  to  dramatic  artifice.     The  story  is   Xx'  . 

too  meagre  to  admit  of  much  ingenuity  or  contriv- 
ance, or  to  excite  any  depth  of  interest.  There 
are  few  interlocutors,  seldom  more  than  three  or 
four,  although  on  one  occasion  rising  to  as  many  as 
seven  ;  of  course  there  is  little  scope  for  theatrical 
action.  The  characters  are  of  the  humble  class 
belonging  to  pastoral  life,  and  the  dialogue,  which 
is  extremely  appropriate,  is  conducted  with  facility; 
but  the  rustic  condition  of  the  speakers  precludes 
any  thing  like  literary  elegance  or  finish,  in  which 
respect  they  are  doubtless  surpassed  by  some  of  his 
more  ambitious  compositions.  There  is  a  comic  air 
imparted  to  them,  however,  and  a  lively  colloquial 
turn,  which  renders  them  very  agreeable.  Still, 
w  hcitever  be  their  merit  as  pastorals,  they  are  enti- 
tled to  little  consideration  as  specimens  of  dramatic 
art ;  and,  in  the  vital  spirit  of  dramatic  composition, 
must  be  regarded  as  far  inferior  to  the  "Celestina." 
The  simplicity  of  these  productions,  and  the  facility 
of  their  exhibition,  which  required  little  theatrical 
decoration  or  costume,  recommended  them  to  popu- 
lar imitation,  which  continued  long  after  the  regular 
forms  of  the  drama  were  introduced  into  Spain.42 


de  quien  tenemos  tres  egloga3 
Que  el  niismo  represento 
al  Almirante  y  Duquessa 
de  Castilla,  y  de  Intantado 
que  estas  f'neron  las  primeias 
Y  para  mas  honra  siiya, 
y  de  la  comedia  nuesira, 
en  los  dias  que  Colon 
descubrio  la  gran  riquezA 
De  Indias  y  nuevo  mundo, 
y  el  gran  Capital  ernpieza 
a  Bugetar  aquel  Reyno 
de  Napoles,  y  su  tierra. 


A  descubrlrse  empezo 

el  uso  de  la  comedia 

porque  todos  se  animassen 

a  emprender  cosas  tan  buenas." 

fol.  46,  47. 

49  Signorelli,  correcting  what  lie 
denominates  the  "romance"  of  Lam- 
pillas,  considers  Encina  to  have 
composed  only  one  pastoral  drama, 
and  that,  on  occasion  of  Ferdinand's 
entrance  into  Castile.    The  critic 


240 


CASTILIAN  LITERATURE. 


part        The  credit  of  this  introduction  belongs  to  liar- 


i. 


Torres  »Je 
Naharro. 


tholomeo  Torres  de  Naharro,  often  confounded  by 
the  Castilian  writers  themselves  with  a  player  of 
the  same  name,  who  flourished  half  a  century 
later.43  Few  particulars  have  been  ascertained  of 
his  personal  history.  He  was  born  at  Torre,  in  the 
province  of  Estrernadura.  In  the  early  part  of  his 
life  he  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Algerines,  and  was 
finally  released  from  captivity  by  the  exertions  of 
certain  benevolent  Italians,  who  generously  paid  his 
ransom.  He  then  established  his  residence  in  Italy, 
at  the  court  of  Leo  the  Tenth.  Under  the  genial 
influence  of  that  patronage,  which  quickened  so 
many  of  the  seeds  of  genius  to  production  in  every 
department,  he  composed  his  "  Propaladia,"  a  work 
embracing  a  variety  of  lyrical  and  dramatic  poetry, 
first  published  at  Rome,  in  1517.  Unfortunately, 
the  caustic  satire,  levelled  in  some  of  the  highei 
pieces  of  this  collection  at  the  license  of  the  pontifi- 
cal court,  brought  such  obloquy  on  the  head  of  the 
author  as  compelled  him  to  take  refuge  in  Naples, 
where  he  remained  under  the  protection  of  the 
noble  family  of  Colonna.  No  further  particulars 
are  recorded  of  him  except  that  he  embraced  the 


should  have  been  more  charitable, 
as  he  has  made  two  blunders  him- 
self in  correcting  one.  Storia  Cri- 
tica  de'  Teatri,  torn.  iv.  pp.  192, 
193. 

43  Andres,  confounding  Torres 
de  Naharro  the  poet,  with  Naharro 
the  comedian,  who  flourished  about 
half  a  century  later,  is  led  into  a 
ludicrous  train  of  errors  in  contro- 
verting Cervantes,  whose  criticism 


on  the  actor  is  perpetually  misap- 
plied by  Andres  to  the  poet.  Ve- 
lasquez seems  to  have  confounded 
them  in  like  manner.  Another  evi- 
dence of  the  extremely  superficial 
acquaintance  of  the  Spanish  critics 
with  their  early  drama.  (Jump. 
Cervantes,  Comedias  y  Entremeses, 
torn.  i.  prologo.  —  Andres,  Lette- 
ratura,  torn.  v.  p.  179.  —  Velaz- 
quez, Poesia  Castellana,  p.  88. 


ROMANTIC  FICTION  AND  POETRY. 


241 


ecclesiastical  profession  ;  and  the  time  and  place  of  chapter 
his  death  are  alike  uncertain.    In  person  he  is  said  xx' 
to  have  been  comely,  with  an  amiable  disposition, 
and  sedate  and  dignified  demeanor. 44 

His  "  Propaladia,"  first  published  at  Rome,  passed  hw  come- 
through  several  editions  subsequently  in  Spain, 
where  it  was  alternately  prohibited,  or  permitted, 
according  to  the  caprice  of  the  Holy  Office.  It 
contains,  among  other  things,  eight  comedies,  writ- 
ten in  the  native  redondillas ;  which  continue  to 
be  regarded  as  the  suitable  measure  for  the  drama. 
They  afford  the  earliest  example  of  the  division 
into  jornadas,  or  days,  and  of  the  introito,  or  pro- 
logue, in  which  the  author,  after  propitiating  the 
audience  by  suitable  compliment,  and  witticisms 
not  over  delicate,  gives  a  view  of  the  length  and 
general  scope  of  his  play. 45 

The  scenes  of  Naharro's  comedies,  with  a  single 
exception,  are  laid  in  Spain  and  Italy ;  those  in  the 
latter  country  probably  being  selected  with  refer- 
ence to  the  audiences  before  whom  they  were 
acted.  The  diction  is  easy  and  correct,  without 
much  affectation  of  refinement  or  rhetorical  orna- 


44  Nic.  Antonio,  Bibliotheca  No- 
va, torn.  i.  p.  202.  —  Cervantes, 
Corned  i  as,  torn.  i.  prol.  de  Nasarre. 
—  Pellicer,  Origen  de  la  Comedia. 
torn.  ii.  p.  17.  —  Moratin,  Obras, 
torn.  i.  p.  48. 

4^>  Bartolome  Torres  de  Nahar- 
ro,  Piopaladia,  (Madrid,  1573.)  — 
The  deficiency  of  the  earlier  Span- 
ish books,  of  which  Bouterwek  re- 
peatedly complains,  has  led  him 
into  an  error  respecting  the  "  Pro- 
paladia,"  which  he  had  never  seen. 
He  states  that  Naharro  was  the 


first  to  distribute  the  play  into  three 
jornadas  or  acts,  and  takes  Cer- 
vantes roundly  to  task  for  assuming 
the  original  merit  of  this  distribu- 
tion to  himself.  In  fact,  Naharro 
did  introduce  the  division  into  five 
jornadas,  and  Cervantes  assumes 
only  the  credit  of  having  been  the 
first  to  reduce  them  to  three.  Comp. 
Bouterwek,  Geschichte  der  Poesie 
und  Beredsamkeit,  band  iii.  p.  285, 
—  and  Cervantes,  Comedias,  torn, 
i.  prol. 


VOL.  II. 


31 


2V2 


CA STILIAN  LITERATURE. 


PAIIT 

L 


Bimilar  in 
spirit  with 
the  later 
dramas. 


ment.  The  dialogue,  especially  in  the  lower  parts, 
is  sustained  with  much  comic  vivacity;  indeed  Na- 
harro  seems  to  have  had  a  nicer  perception  of  char- 
acter as  it  is  found  in  lower  life,  than  as  it  exists  in 
the  higher ;  and  more  than  one  of  his  plays  are  de- 
voted exclusively  to  its  illustration.  On  some  occa- 
sions, however,  the  author  assumes  a  more  elevated 
tone,  and  his  verse  rises  to  a  degree  of  poetic  beau- 
ty, deepened  by  the  moral  reflection  so  characteris- 
tic of  the  Spaniards.  At  other  times,  his  pieces  are 
disfigured  by  such  a  Babel-like  confusion  of  tongues, 
as  makes  it  doubtful  which  may  be  the  poet's  ver- 
nacular. French,  Spanish,  Italian,  with  a  variety 
of  barbarous  patois,  and  mongrel  Latin,  are  all 
brought  into  play  at  the  same  time,  and  all  compre- 
hended, apparently  with  equal  facility,  by  each  one 
of  the  dramatis  personce.  But  it  is  difficult  to  con- 
ceive how  such  a  jargon  could  have  been  compre- 
hended, far  more  relished,  by  an  Italian  audience.46 
Naharro's  comedies  are  not  much  to  be  com- 
mended for  the  intrigue,  which  generally  excites 
but  a  languid  interest,  ■  and  shows  little  power  or 
adroitness  in  the  contrivance.  With  every  defect, 
however,  they  must  be  allowed  to  have  given  the 
first  forms  to  Spanish  comedy,  and  to  exhibit  many 
of  the  features  which  continued  to  be  characteristic 
of  it  in  a  state  of  more  perfect  developement  under 
Lope  de  Vega  and  Calderon.    Such,  for  instanceT 


46  In  the  argument  to  the  "  Se- 
raphina,"  he  thus  prepares  the  audi- 
ence for  this  colloquial  olla  podrida. 

•'Mas  haveis  de  estar  alerta 
por  seutir  los  personages 


que  hablan  qnatro  lenpuagee. 
hastn  acabar  su  rehyerta 
no  salen  de  cuenta  cierta 
por  Lathi  e  Italiano 
Castellano  y  Valenciano 
que  nil  guno  desconcierta." 

Fropaladia,  p.  I 


ROMANTIC  FICTION  AND  POETRY. 


243 


is  the  amorous  jealousy,  and  especially  the  point  chapter 
of  honor,  so  conspicuous  on  the  Spanish  theatre ;  — 
and  such,  too,  the  moral  confusion  too  often  pro- 
duced by  blending  the  foulest  crimes  with  zeal  for 
religion. 47  These  comedies,  moreover,  far  from 
blind  conformity  with  the  ancients,  discovered  much 
of  the  spirit  of  independence,  and  deviated  into 
many  of  the  eccentricities  which  distinguish  the 
national  theatre  in  later  times ;  and  which  the 
criticism  of  our  own  day  has  so  successfully  ex- 
plained and  defended  on  philosophical  principles. 

Naharro's  plays  were  represented,  as  appears  jN°Vjcled  ,n 
from  his  prologue,  in  Italy,  probably  not  at  Rome, 
which  he  quitted  soon  after  their  publication,  but 
at  Naples,  which,  then  forming  a  part  of  the 
Spanish  dominions,  might  more  easily  furnish  an 
audience  capable  of  comprehending  them.48    It  is 


47  The  following  is  an  example 
of  the  precious  reasoning  with 
which  Floristan,  in  the  play  above 
quoted,  reconciles  his  conscience  to 
the  murder  of  his  wife  Orfea,  in 
order  to  gratify  the  jealousy  of  his 
mistress  Seraphina.  Floristan  is 
addressing  himself  to  a  priest. 

*  V  por  mas  dano  escusar 
no  lo  quiero  hora  baser, 
sino  que  es  menester. 
que  yo  mate  luego  a  Orfca 
do  Serafina  lo  vea 
porque  lo  pueda  creer. 
Que  yo  bien  me  mataria, 
pues  toda  razon  me  inclinaj 
pero  se  de  Serafina 
que  se  desesperaria. 
y  Orfea,  pues  que  haria  ? 
quando  mi  muerte  supiesse  : 
que  creo  que  no  pudiesse 
sostener  la  vida  uu  dia. 
Pues  hablando  aea  entre  nos 
a  Orfea  cabe  la  suerte  •, 
pcrque  con  su  sola  muerte 
se  escus;iran  otras  dos  : 
de  modo  que  padre  vos 
si  llamar  me  la  quereys, 
a  mi  merced  me  bareyi 


y  tambien  servicio  a  Dios. 
*       *       *       *  * 

porque  si  yo  la  matare 
morira  christianamente ; 
yo  morire  penitente, 
quando  mi  suerte  llejrare." 

Propaladia,  fol.  68. 

48  Signorelli  waxes  exceedingly 
wroth  with  Don  Bias  Nasarre  for 
the  assertion,  that  Naharro  first 
taught  the  Italians  to  write  comedy, 
taxing  him  with  downright  men- 
dacity ;  and  he  stoutly  denies  the 
probability  of  Naharro's  comedies 
ever  having  been  performed  on  the 
Italian  boards.  The  critic  seems 
to  be  in  the  right,  as  far  as  regards 
the  influence  of  the  Spanish  dramat- 
ist ;  but  he  might  have  been  spared 
all  uoubts  respecting  their  repre- 
sentation in  the  country,  had  he 
consulted  the  prologue  of  Naharro 
himself,  where  he  asserts  the  fact 
in  the  most  explicit  manner.  Comp. 
Propaladia,  prol.,  and  Signorelli, 


CASTILIA.N  LITERATURE. 


part     remarkable,  that  notwithstanding  their  repeated  edi- 

— 1  .  tions  in  Spain,  they  do  not  appear  to  have  evei 

been  performed  there.  The  cause  of  this,  probably, 
was  the  low  state  of  the  histrionic  art,  and  the  total 
deficiency  in  theatrical  costume  and  decoration ; 
yet  it  was  not  easy  to  dispense  with  these  in  the 
representation  of  pieces,  which  brought  more  than 
a  score  of  persons  occasionally,  and  these  crowned 
heads,  at  the  same  time,  upon  the  stage. 49 
towcondi-       Some  conception  may  be  afforded  of  the  lament- 

tion  oi  the  A  J 

stu>?e-  able  poverty  of  the  theatrical  equipment,  from  the 
account  given  of  its  condition,  half  a  century  later, 
by  Cervantes.  "  The  whole  wardrobe  of  a  manager 
of  the  theatre,  at  that  time,"  says  he,  "  was  con- 
tained in  a  single  sack,  and  amounted  only  to  four 
dresses  of  white  fur  trimmed  with  gilt  leather,  four 
beards,  four  wigs,  and  four  crooks,  more  or  less. 
There  were  no  trapdoors,  movable  clouds,  or  ma- 
chinery of  any  kind.  The  stage  itself  consisted 
only  of  four  or  six  planks,  placed  across  as  many 
benches,  arranged  in  the  form  of  a  square,  and 
elevated  but  four  palms  from  the  ground.  The 
only  decoration  of  the  theatre  was  an  old  coverlet, 
drawn  from  side  to  side  by  cords,  behind  which 
the  musicians  sang  some  ancient  romance,  without 
the  guitar." 50  In  fact,  no  further  apparatus  was 
employed  than  that  demanded  for  the  exhibition  of 

% 

Storia  Critica  de'  Teatri,  torn.  vi.  Jovellanos,  Memoria  sobre  las  Di 

pp.  171-  179.  —  See  also  Moratin,  versiones  Publicas,  apud  Mem.  de 

Origenes,  Obras,  torn.  i.  pp.  149,  la  Acad,  de  Hist.,  torn.  v. 
150.  •  50  Cervantes,  Comedias,  torn,  i 

49  Propaladia  ;  see  the  comedies  prol. 
of  "  Trotea"  and  "  Tinelaria."— 


ROMANTIC  FICTION  AND  POETRY. 


245 


lingeries,  or  the  pastoral  dialogues  which  succeed-  chapter 
ed  them  The  Spaniards,  notwithstanding  their  — — — 
precocity,  compared  with  most  of  the  nations  of 
Europe,  in  dramatic  art,  were  unaccountably  tardy 
in  all  its  histrionic  accompaniments.  The  public 
remained  content  with  such  poor  mummeries,  as 
could  be  got  up  by  strolling  players  and  moun- 
tebanks. There  was  no  fixed  theatre  in  Madrid 
until  the  latter  part  of  the  sixteenth  century ;  and 
that  consisted  of  a  courtyard,  with  only  a  roof  to 
shelter  it,  while  the  spectators  sat  on  benches 
ranged  around,  or  at  the  windows  of  the  surround- 
ing houses.51 

A  similar  impulse  with  that  experienced  by  comic  Tragic 

1  1  J  drama. 

writing,  was  given  to  tragedy.  The  first  that  en- 
tered on  this  department  were  professed  scholars, 
who  adopted  the  error  of  the  Italian  dramatists,  in 
fashioning  their  pieces  servilely  after  the  antique, 
instead  of  seizing  the  expression  of  their  own  age. 
The  most  conspicuous  attempts  in  this  way  were 
made  by  Fernan  Perez  de  Oliva. 52    He  was  born 


51  Pellicer,  Origen  de  la  Come- 
dia,  torn.  ii.  pp.  58-62.  —  See 
also  American  Quarterly  Review, 
no.  viii.  art.  3. 

52  Oliva,  Obras,  (Madrid,  1787.) 
—  Vasco  Diaz  Tanco,  a  native  of 
Estremadura,  who  flourished  in  the 
first  half  of  the  sixteenth  century, 
mentions  in  one  of  his  works  three 
tragedies  composed  by  himself  on 
Scripture  subjects.  As  there  is  no 
evidence,  however,  of  their  having 
been  printed, or  performed,  or  even 
read  in  manuscript  by  any  one, 
they  hardly  deserve  to  be  included 
in  the  catalogue  of  dramatic  com- 


positions. (Moratin,  Obras,  torn, 
i.  pp.  150,  151.  —  Lampillas,  Let- 
teratura  Spagnuola,  torn.  v.  dis.  1, 
sec.  5.)  This  patriotic  litterateur 
endeavours  to  establish  the  produc- 
tion of  Oliva's  tragedies  in  the  year 
? 5 1 5,  in  the  hope  of  antedating 
that  of  Trissino's  u  Sophonisba," 
composed  a  year  later,  and  thus  se- 
curing to  his  nation  the  palm  of 
precedence,  in  time  at  least,  though 
it  should  be  only  for  a  few  months, 
on  the  tragic  theatre  of  modern 
Europe.  Letteratura  Spagnuola, 
ubi  supra. 


246 


CAST1LIAN  LITERATURE. 


part     at  Cordova,  in  1494,  and,  after  many  years  passed 

 . —  in  the  various  schools  of  Spain,  France,  and  Italy, 

returned  to  his  native  land,  and  became  a  lecturer 
in  the  university  of  Salamanca.  He  instructed  in 
moral  philosophy  and  mathematics,  and  established 
the  highest  reputation  for  his  critical  acquaintance 
with  the  ancient  languages  and  his  own.  He  died 
young,  at  the  age  of  thirty-nine,  deeply  lamented 
for  his  moral,  no  less  than  for  his  intellectual 
worth. 58 

Ollva's  claa-      His  various  works  were  published  bv  the  learned 

sic  imita-  ^  . 

tions.  Morales,  his  nephew,  some  fifty  years  after  his 
death.  Among  them  are  translations  in  prose  of 
the  Electra  of  Sophocles,  and  the  Hecuba  of  Euri- 
pides. They  may  with  more  propriety  be  termed 
imitations,  and  those  too  of  the  freest  kind.  Al- 
though they  conform,  in  the  general  arrangement 
and  progress  of  the  story,  to  their  originals,  yet 
characters,  nay  whole  scenes  and  dialogues,  are 
occasionally  omitted ;  and  in  those  retained,  it  is 
not  always  easy  to  recognise  the  hand  of  the  Gre- 
cian artist,  whose  modest  beauties  are  thrown  into 
shade  by  the  ambitious  ones  of  his  imitator. 54  But 
with  all  this,  Oliva's  tragedies  must  be  admitted  to 
be  executed,  on  the  whole,  with  vigor ;  and  the 
diction,  notwithstanding  the  national  tendency  to 

53  Nic.  Antonio,  Bibliotheca  No-  "Habed,  yo  os  ruego,  de  mi 
va,  torn.  i.  p.  386.  —  Oliva,  Obras,  compassion,  no  querais  atapar  con 
pref.  de  Morales.  vuestros  consejos  los  respiraderos 

54  The  following  passage,  for  de  las  hornazas  de  fuego,  que  den- 
example,  in  the  "  Venganza  de  tro  me  atormentan."  See  OUva, 
Agamemnon,"  imitated  from  the    Obras,  p.  185. 

Electra  of  Sophocles,  will  hardly 
be  charged  on  the  Greek  dramatist. 


ROMANTIC  FICTION  AND  POETRY. 


247 


exaggeration  above  alluded  to,  may  be  generally  chapteh 

...  XX 

commended  for  decorum  and  an  imposing  dignity,   — 

quite  worthy  of  the  tragic  drama ;  indeed,  they 
may  be  selected  as  affording  probably  the  best 
specimen  of  the  progress  of  prose  composition 
during  the  present  reign. 55 

Oliva's  reputation  led  to  a  similar  imitation  of  n« popular, 
(he  antique.  But  the  Spaniards  were  too  national 
in  all  their  tastes  to  sanction  it.  These  classical 
compositions  did  not  obtain  possession  of  the  stage, 
but  were  confined  to  the  closet,  serving  only  as  a 
relaxation  for  the  man  of  letters ;  while  the  voice 
of  the  people  compelled  all  who  courted  it,  to  ac- 
commodate their  inventions  to  those  romantic  forms, 
which  were  subsequently  developed  in  such  variety 
of  beauty  by  the  great  Spanish  dramatists. 56 

We  haye  now  surveyed  the  different  kinds  of  National 

J  spirit  ol'  the 

poetic  culture  familiar  to  Spain  under  Ferdinand  li£%Uorcer,of 
and  Isabella.  Their  most  conspicuous  element  is 
the  national  spirit  which  pervades  them,  and  the 
exclusive  attachment  which  they  manifest  to  the 
primitive  forms  of  versification  peculiar  to  the  Pen- 
insula.   The  most  remarkable  portion  of  this  body 


55  Compare  the  diction  of  these 
tragedies  with  that  of  the  "  Centon 
Epistolario,"  for  instance,  esteemed 
one  of  the  best  literary  composi- 
tions of  John  II. 's  reign,  and  see 
the  advance  made,  not  only  in 
orthography,  but  in  the  verbal  ar- 
rangement generally,  and  the  whole 
complexion  of  the  style. 

56  Notwithstanding  some  Span- 
ish critics,  as  Cueva,  for  example, 
have  vindicated  the  romantic  forms 
of  the  drama  on  scientific  princi- 
ples, it  is  apparent  that  the  most 


successful  writers  in  this  depart- 
ment have  been  constrained  to 
adopt  them  by  public  opinion,  rath- 
er than  their  own,  which  would 
have  suggested  a  nearer  imitation 
of  the  classical  models  of  antiquity, 
so  generally  followed  by  the  Ital- 
ians, and  which  naturally  recom- 
mends itself  to  the  scholar.  See 
the  canon's  discourse  in  Cervantes, 
Don  Quixote,  ed.  de  Pellicer,  torn, 
iii.  pp.  207-220,  —  and,  more  ex 
plicitly,  Lope  de  Vega,  Obras  Suel- 
tas,  torn.  iv.  p.  40G. 


248 


CASTILIAN  LITERATURE. 


part  of  poetry  may  doubtless  be  considered  the  Span- 
'  ish  romances,  or  ballads ;  that  popular  minstrelsy, 
which,  commemorating  the  picturesque  and  chival- 
rous incidents  of  the  age,  reflects  most  faithfully 
the  romantic  genius  of  the  people,  who  gave  it  ut- 
terance. The  lyric  efforts  of  the  period  were  less 
successful.  There  were  few  elaborate  attempts  in 
this  field,  indeed,  by  men  of  decided  genius.  But 
the  great  obstacle  may  be  found  in  the  imperfection 
of  the  language  and  the  deficiency  of  the  more 
exact  and  finished  metrical  forms,  indispensable  to 
high  poetic  execution. 

The  whole  period,  however,  comprehending,  as 
it  does,  the  first  decided  approaches  to  a  regular 
drama,  may  be  regarded  as  very  important  in  a  lit- 
erary aspect ;  since  it  exhibits  the  indigenous  pe- 
culiarities of  Castilian  literature  in  all  their  fresh- 
ness, and  shows  to  what  a  degree  of  excellence  it 
could  attain,  while  untouched  by  any  foreign  influ- 
ence. The  present  reign  may  be  regarded  as  the 
epoch  which  divides  the  ancient  from  the  modern 
school  of  Spanish  poetry  ;  in  which  the  language 
was  slowly  but  steadily  undergoing  the  process  of 
refinement,  that  "  made  the  knowledge  of  it,"  to 
borrow  the  words  of  a  contemporary  critic,  "  pass 
for  an  elegant  accomplishment,  even  with  the  cav 
aliers  and  dames  of  cultivated  Italy;"  57  and  which 

57  «  Ya  en  Italia,  assi  entre  Da-  hablar  Castellano."  Dialogo  de 
mas,  como  entre  Caballeros,  se  las  Lenguas,  apud  Mayans  y  Sis- 
tiene  por  gentileza  y  galania,  saber    car,  Origenes,  torn.  ii.  p.  4 


I  have  had  occasion  to  advert  chapter,  to  the  superficial  acquaint- 
more  than  once  in  the  course  of  this    ance  of  the  Spanish  critics  with  the 


V 

ROMANTIC  FICTIOxN  AND  POETRY. 


249 


finally  gave  full  scope  to  the  poetic  talent,  that  chapter 

raised  the  literature  of  the  country  to  such  brilliant   —  

heights  in  the  sixteenth  century. 


early  history  of  their  own  drama, 
authentic  materials  for  which  are  so 
extremely  rare  and  difficult  of  ac- 
cess, as  to-  preclude  the  expectation 
of  any  thing  like  a  satisfactory  ac- 
count of  it  out  of  the  Peninsula. 
The  nearest  approach  to  this  with- 
in my  knowledge,  is  made  in  an 
article  in  the  eighth  number  of  the 
American  Quarterly  Review,  ascri- 
bed to  Mr.  Ticknor,  late  Professor 
of  Modern  Literature  in  Harvard 
University.  This  gentleman,  during 
a  residence  in  the  Peninsula,  had 
every  facility  for  replenishing  his 
library  with  the  most  curious  and 
valuable  works,  both  printed  and 
manuscript,  in  this  department ; 
and  his  essay  embodies  in  a  brief 
compass  the  results  of  a  well- 
directed  industry,  which  he  has 
expanded  in  greater  detail  in  his 
lectures  on  Spanish  literature, 
delivered  before  the  classes  of 
the  University.  The  subject  is  dis- 
cussed with  his  usual  elegance  and 
perspicuity  of  style  ;  and  the  for- 
eign, and  indeed  Castilian  scholar, 
may  find  much  novel  information 
there,  in  the  views  presented  of  the 
early  progress  of  the  dramatic  and 
the  histrionic  art  in  the  Peninsula. 

Since  the  publication  of  this  ar- 
ticle, Moratin's  treatise,  so  long 
and  anxiously  expected,  "  Origenes 
del  Teatro  Espafiol,"  has  made  its 
appearance  under  the  auspices  of 
the  Royal  Academy  of  History, 
which  has  enriched  tbe  national 
literature  with  so  many  admirable 
editions  of  its  ancient  authors. 
Moratin  states  in  his  Preface,  that 
he  was  employed  from  his  earliest 
youth  in  collecting  notices,  both 
at  home  and  abroad,  of  whatever 
might  illustrate  the  origin  of  the 
Spanish  drama.  The  results  have 
been  two  volumes,  containing  in 
the  First  Part  an  historical  discus- 
sion, with  ample  explanatory  notes, 


and  a  catalogue  of  dramatic  pieces 
from  the  earliest  epoch  down  to 
the  time  of  Lope  de  Vega,  chro- 
nologically arranged,  and  accom- 
panied with  critical  analyses,  and 
copious  illustrative  extracts  from 
pieces  of  the  greatest  merit.  The 
Second  Part  is  devoted  to  the  pub- 
lication of  entire  pieces  of  various 
authors,  which  from  their  extreme 
rarity,  or  their  existence  only  in 
manuscript,  have  had  but  little  cir- 
culation. The  selections  through- 
out are  made  with  that  careful  dis- 
crimination, which  resulted  from 
poetic  talent  combined  with  exten- 
sive and  thorough  erudition.  The 
criticisms,  although  sometimes 
warped  by  the  peculiar  dramatic 
principles  of  the  author,  are  con- 
ducted in  general  with  great  fair- 
ness ;  and  ample,  but  not  extrava- 
gant, commendation  is  bestowed 
on  productions,  whose  merit,  to 
be  properly  appreciated,  must  be 
weighed  by  one  conversant  with 
the  character  and  intellectual  cul- 
ture of  the  period.  The  work  un- 
fortunately did  not  receive  the  last 
touches  of  its  author,  and  undoubt- 
edly something  may  be  found 
wanting  to  the  full  completion  of 
his  design.  On  the  whole,  it  must 
be  considered  as  a  rich  repertory 
of  old  Castilian  literature,  much  of 
it  of  the  most  rare  and  recondite 
nature,  directed  to  the  illustration 
of  a  department,  that  has  hitherto 
been  suffered  to  languish  in  the 
lowest  obscurity,  but  which  is  now 
so  arranged  that  it  may  be  contem- 
plated, as  it  were,  under  one  as- 
pect, and  its  real  merits  accurately 
determined. 

It  was  not  till  some  time  after 
the  publication  of  this  History,  that 
my  attention  was  called  to  that  por- 
tion of  the  writings  of  Don  Marti- 
nez de  la  Rosa,  in  which  he  criti- 
cizes the  various  departments  of  the 


Moratin'e 
dramatic 
criticjbin. 


VOL.  II. 


32 


250 


CASTIL1AN  LITERATURE. 


national  literature.  This  criticism  is 
embodied  in  the  annotations  and 
appendix  to  his  elegant  "  Poetica  " 
(Obras  Literarias,  (Paris,  1827,) 
torn.  i.  ii. )  The  former  discuss 
the  general  laws,  by  which  the  va- 
rious kinds  of  poetry  are  to  be  reg- 
ulated ;  the  latter  presents  a  very 
searching  and  scientific  analysis  of 
the  principal  productions  of  the 
Spanish  poets,  down  to  the  close  of 
the  last  century.  The  critic  exem- 
plifies his  own  views  by  copious  ex- 
tracts from  the  subjects  of  his  crit- 
icism, and  throws  much  collateral 
light  on  the  argument  by  illustra- 
tions borrowed  from  foreign  litera- 
ture    In  the  examination  of  the 


Spanish  drama,  especially  comedy, 
which  he  modestly  qualifies  as 
"succinct  notice,  not  very  exact," 
he  is  very  elaborate  ;  and  discovers 
the  same  taste  and  sagacity  in  esti- 
mating the  merits  of  individual 
writers,  which  he  had  shown  in 
discussing  the  general  principles  of 
the  art.  Had  I  read  his  work 
sooner,  it  would  have  greatly  facil- 
itated my  own  inquiries  in  the  same 
obscure  path ;  and  I  should  have 
recognised,  at  least,  one  brilliant 
exception  to  my  sweeping  remark 
on  the  apathy  manifested  by  the 
Castilian  scholars  lo  the  antiquities 
of  the  national  drama. 


PART  SECOND. 

1493—1517. 

The  period  when,  the  interior  organization  of  the  mon- 
archy HAVING  BEEN  COMPLETED,  THE  SPANISH  NATION 
ENTERED  ON  ITS  SCHEMES  OF  DISCOVERY  AND  CONQUEST ; 
OR  THE  PERIOD  ILLUSTRATING  MORE  PARTICULARLY  THK 
FOREIGN  POLICY  OF  FERDINAND  AND  ISABELLA. 


PART  SECOND 


CHAPTER  I. 

ITALIAN  WARS.  — GENERAL  VIEW  OF  EUROPE.  — INVASION  OF 
ITALY  BY  CHARLES  VIII.,  OF  FRANCE. 

1493—1495. 

Europe  at  the  Close  of  the  Fifteenth  Century. —  More  intimate  Rela- 
tions between  States.  —  Italy  the  School  of  Politics. —  Pretensions  of 
Charles  VIII.  to  Naples.  —  Treaty  of  Barcelona.  —  The  French  in- 
vade Naples.  —  Ferdinand's  Dissatisfaction. — Tactics  and  Arms  of 
the  different  Nations.  —  Preparations  of  Spain.  — Mission  to  Charles 
VIII.  —  Bold  Conduct  of  the  Envoys.  —  The  French  enter  Naples. 

We  have  now  reached  that  memorable  epoch,  ciiapter 

when  the  different  nations  of  Europe,  surmounting   

the  barriers  which  had  hitherto  confined  them  within 
their  respective  limits,  brought  their  forces,  as  if  by 
a  simultaneous  impulse,  against  each  other  on  a 
common  theatre  of  action.  In  the  preceding  part 
of  this  work,  we  have  seen  in  what  manner  Spain 
was  prepared  for  the  contest,  by  the  concentration 
of  her  various  states  under  one  government,  and  by 
such  internal  reforms,  as  enabled  the  government 
to  act  with  vigor.  The  genius  of  Ferdinand  will  Jjjjjg 
appear  as  predominant  in  what  concerns  the  foreign  fSSmJS! 
relations  of  the  country,  as  did  that  of  Isabella  in 
its  interior  administration.    So  much  so,  indeed, 


251 


ITALIAN  WARS. 


part     that  the  accurate  and  well-informed  historian,  who 

 —  has  most  copiously  illustrated  this  portion  of  the 

national  annals,  does  not  even  mention,  in  his  in- 
troductory notice,  the  name  of  Isabella,  but  refers 
the  agency  in  these  events  exclusively  to  her  more 
ambitious  consort. 1  In  this  he  is  abundantly  justi- 
fied, both  by  the  prevailing  character  of  the  policy 
pursued,  widely  differing  from  that  which  distin- 
guished the  queen's  measures,  and  by  the  circum- 
stance that  the  foreign  conquests,  although  achieved 
by  the  united  efforts  of  both  crowns,  were  under- 
taken on  behalf  of  Ferdinand's  own  dominions  of 
Aragon,  to  which  in  the  end  they  exclusively  apper- 
tained. 

Europe  at  The  close  of  the  fifteenth  centurv  presents,  on 
raturj  tQe  wno*e»  tne  most  striking  point  of  view  in  mod- 
ern history ;  one  from  which  we  may  contemplate 
the  consummation  of  an  important  revolution  in  the 
structure  of  political  society,  and  the  first  applica 
tion  of  several  inventions  destined  to  exercise  the 
widest  influence  on  human  civilization.  The  feudal 
institutions,  or  rather  the  feudal  principle,  which 
operated  even  where  the  institutions,  strictly  speak- 
ing, did  not  exist,  after  having  wrought  its  appoint- 
ed uses,  had  gradually  fallen  into  decay ;  for  it  had 
not  the  power  of  accommodating  itself  to  the  in- 
creased demands  and  improved  condition  of  society. 
However  well  suited  to  a  barbarous  age,  it  was 
found  that  the  distribution  of  power  among  the 
members  of  an  independent  aristocracy,  was  unfa- 


1  Zuvita,  Historia  del  Rey  Don  torn.  v.  vi.,  Zaragoza,  1580,)  lib.  1. 
Hernando  el  Catholico,  (Anales  introd. 


EXPEDITION  OF  CHARLES  VIII. 


255 


vorahle  to  that  degree  of  personal  security  and  chapter 

tranquillity  indispensable  to  great  proficiency  in  the  — 

higher  arts  of  civilization.  It  was  equally  repug- 
nant to  the  principle  of  patriotism,  so  essential  to 
national  independence,  but  which  must  have  op- 
erated feebly  among  a  people,  whose  sympathies, 
instead  of  being  concentrated  on  the  state,  were 
claimed  by  a  hundred  masters,  as  was  the  case  in 
every  feudal  community.  The  conviction  of  this 
reconciled  the  nation  to  the  transfer  of  authority 
into  other  hands ;  not  those  of  the  people,  indeed, 
who  were  too  ignorant,  and  too  long  accustomed 
to  a  subordinate,  dependent  situation,  to  admit  of 
it, —  but  into  the  hands  of  the  sovereign.  It  was 
not  until  three  centuries  more  had  elapsed,  that  the 
condition  of  the  great  mass  of  the  people  was  to  be 
so  far  improved,  as  to  qualify  them  for  asserting 
and  maintaining  the  political  consideration  which 
of  right  belongs  to  them. 

In  whatever  degree  public  opinion  and  the  pro-  character 

Y  .  of  reigning 

gress  of  events  might  favor  the  transition  of  power  ■0VerefcM- 
from  the  aristocracy  to  the  monarch,  it  is  obvious 
that  much  would  depend  on  his  personal  character ; 
since  the  advantages  of  his  station  alone  made  him 
by  no  means  a  match  for  the  combined  forces  of  his 
great  nobility.  The  remarkable  adaptation  of  the 
characters  of  the  principal  sovereigns  of  Europe  to 
this  exigency,  in  the  latter  half  of  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury, would  seem  to  have  something  providential  in 
it.  Henry  the  Seventh  of  England,  Louis  the 
Eleventh  of  France,  Ferdinand  of  Naples,  John  the 
Second  of  Aragon  and  his  son  Ferdinand,  and  John 


256 


ITALIAN  WARS. 


paut     the  Second  of  Portugal,  however  differing  in  other 
11.  &  s. 

.  ■  respects,  were  all  distinguished  by  a  sagacity,  which 

enabled  them  to  devise  the  most  subtile  and  com- 
prehensive schemes  of  policy,  and  which  was  pro- 
lific in  expedients  for  the  circumvention  of  enemies 
too  potent  to  be  encountered  by  open  force. 
Improved         Their  operations,  all  directed  towards  the  same 

political  and  1 

Eo!Lalco,ldi"  Pomt5  were  attended  with  similar  success,  resulting 
in  the  exaltation  of  the  royal  prerogative  at  the  ex- 
pense of  the  aristocracy,  with  more  or  less  deference 
to  the  rights  of  the  people,  as  the  case  might  be  ;  in 
France,  for  example,  with  almost  total  indifference 
to  them,  while  in  Spain  they  were  regarded,  under 
the  parental  administration  of  Isabella,  which  tem- 
pered the  less  scrupulous  policy  of  her  husb:ind,  with 
tenderness  and  respect.  In  every  country,  however, 
the  nation  at  large  gained  greatly  by  the  revolution, 
which  came  on  insensibly,  at  least  without  any  vio- 
lent shock  to  the  fabric  of  society,  and  which,  by 
securing  internal  tranquillity  and  the  ascendency  of 
law  over  brute  force,  gave  ample  scope  for  those 
intellectual  pursuits,  that  withdraw  mankind  from 
sensual  indulgence,  and  too  exclusive  devotion  to 
the  animaj  wants  of  our  nature. 

Moreimt-        No  sooner  was  the  internal  organization  of  the 

mate  rela-  O 

[Seen0"  different  nations  of  Europe  placed  on  a  secure 
basis,  than  they  found  leisure  to  direct  their  views, 
hitherto  confined  within  their  own  limits,  to  a 
bolder  and  more  distant  sphere  of  action.  Their 
international  communication  was  greatly  facilitated 
by  several  useful  inventions  coincident  with  this 
period,  or  then  first  extensively  applied.    Such  was 


EXPEDITION  OF  CHARLES  VIII. 


257 


the  art  of  printing,  diffusing  knowledge  with  the  chapter 

speed  and  universality  of  light ;  the  establishment   h  . 

of  posts,  which,  after  its  adoption  by  Louis  the 
Eleventh,  came  into  frequent  use  in  the  beginning 
of  the  sixteenth  century ;  and  lastly,  the  compass, 
which,  guiding  the  mariner  unerringly  through  the 
trackless  wastes  of  the  ocean,  brought  the  remotest 
regions  into  contact.  With  these  increased  facili- 
ties for  intercommunication,  the  different  European 
states  might  be  said  to  be  brought  into  as  intimate 
relation  with  one  another,  as  the  different  prov- 
inces of  the  same  kingdom  were  before.  They 
now  for  the  first  time  regarded  each  other  as  mem- 
bers of  one  great  community,  in  whose  action  they 
were  all  mutually  concerned.  A  greater  anxiety 
was  manifested  to  detect  the  springs  of  every 
political  movement  of  their  neighbours.  Missions 
became  frequent,  and  accredited  agents  were  sta- 
tioned, as  a  sort  of  honorable  spies,  at  the  different 
courts.  The  science  of  diplomacy,  on  narrower 
grounds,  indeed,  than  it  is  now  practised,  began  to  ' 
be  studied.2  Schemes  of  aggression  and  resistanee, 
leading  to  political  combinations  the  most  complex 
and  extended,  were  gradually  formed.  We  are  not 
to  imagine,  however,  the  existence  of  any  well- 
defined  ideas  of  a  balance  of  power  at  this  early 

2  The  "  Legazione,"  or  offi-  information  respecting  the  interior 
cial  correspondence  of  Machiavel-  workings  of  the  governments  with 
li,  while  stationed  at  the  different  whom  he  resided,  than  is  to  be 
European  courts,  may  be  regarded  found  in  any  regular  history  ;  and 
as  the  most  complete  manual  of  it  shows  the  variety  and  extent  of 
diplomacy  as  it  existed  at  the  be-  duties  attached  to  the  office  of  resi- 
ginning  of  the  sixteenth  century,  dent  minister,  from  the  first  mo- 
It  affords  more  copious  and  curious  ment  of  its  creation. 


VOL.  II. 


33 


258 


ITALIAN  WARS. 


part     period.     The  object  of  these  combinations  was 

 —  some  positive  act  of  aggression  or  resistance,  for 

purposes  of  conquest  or  defence,  not  for  the  main- 
tenance of  any  abstract  theory  of  political  equili- 
brium.   This  was  the  result  of  much  deeper  reflec- 
tion, and  of  prolonged  experience. 
Foreign  reia      The  management  of  the  foreign  relations  of  the 

tions  con-  O  o 

thesodYe-  nation,  at  the  close  of  the  fifteenth  century,  was 
resigned  wholly  to  the  sovereign.  The  people  took 
no  further  part  or  interest  in  the  matter,  than  if  it 
had  concerned  only  the  disposition  of  his  private 
property.  His  measures  were,  therefore,  often 
characterized  by  a  degree  of  temerity  and  precipita- 
tion, that  could  not  have  been  permitted  under  the 
salutary  checks  afforded  by  popular  interposition. 
A  strange  insensibility,  indeed,  was  shown  to  the 
rights  and  interests  of  the  nation.  War  was  re- 
garded as  a  game,  in  which  the  sovereign  parties 
engaged,  not  on  behalf  of  their  subjects,  but  ex- 
clusively on  their  own.  Like  desperate  gamblers, 
they  contended  for  the  spoils  or  the  honors  of  victory, 
with  so  much  the  more  recklessness  as  their  own 
station  was  too  elevated  to  be  materially  prejudiced 
by  the  results.  They  contended  with  all  the  ani- 
mosity of  personal  feeling ;  every  device,  however 
paltry,  was  resorted  to;  and  no  advantage  was 
deemed  unwarrantable,  which  could  tend  to  secure 
the  victory.  The  most  profligate  maxims  of  state 
policy  were  openly  avowed  by  men  of  reputed  hon- 
or and  integrity.  In  short,  the  diplomacy  of  that 
day  is  very  generally  characterized  by  a  low  cun- 
ning, subterfuge,  and  petty  trickery,  which  would 


EXPEDITION  OF  CHARLES  VIII. 


leave  an  indelible  stain  on  the  transactions  of  pri-  chap 
vate  individuals.  — - 


Italy  was,  doubtless,  the  great  school  where  this  itaiy  tb 

J  7  53  school  o 

political  morality  was  taught.  That  country  was  p°1,tiC8- 
broken  up  into  a  number  of  small  states,  too  nearly 
equal  to  allow  the  absolute  supremacy  of  any  one; 
while,  at  the  same  time,  it  demanded  the  most 
restless  vigilance  on  the  part  of  each  to  maintain 
its  independence  against  its  neighbours.  Hence 
such  a  complexity  of  intrigues  and  combinations  as 
the  world  had  never  before  witnessed.  A  subtile, 
refined  policy  was  conformable  to  the  genius  of  the 
Italians.  It  was  partly  the  result,  moreover,  of 
their  higher  cultivation,  which  naturally  led  them 
to  trust  the  settlement  of  their  disputes  to  superior 
intellectual  dexterity,  rather  than  to  brute  force, 
like  the  barbarians  beyond  the  Alps. 3  From  these 
and  other  causes,  maxims  were  gradually  establish- 
ed, so  monstrous  in  their  nature  as  to  give  the 
work,  which  first  embodied  them  in  a  regular  sys- 
tem, the  air  of  a  satire  rather  than  a  serious  per- 
formance, while  the  name  of  its  author  has  been 
converted  into  a  by- word  of  political  knavery.  4 


3  "  Sed  diu,"  says  Sallust,  no-  pra  Tito  Livio,"  which  appeared 
ticing  the  similar  consequence  of  after  his  death,  excited  no  scandal 
increased  refinement  among  the  at  the  time  of  their  publication, 
ancients,  "  magnum  inter  mortales  They  came  into  the  world,  indeed, 
certamen  fuit,  vine  corporis  an  from  the  pontifical  press,  under  the 
virtute  animi  res  militaris  magis  privilege  of  the  reigning  pope, 
procederet.  *****  Turn  demum  Clement  VII.  It  was  not  until 
periculo  atque  negotiis  compertum  thirty  years  later  that  they  were 
est,  in  bello  plurimum  ingenium  placed  on  the  Index  ;  and  this  not 
posse."  Bellum  Catilinarium,  cap.  from  any  exceptions  taken  at  the 
1,2.  immorality  of  their  doctrines,  as 

4  Machiavelli's  political  treatises,  Ginguene  has  well  proved,  (His- 
his  "  Principe  "  and  "  Discorsi  30-  toire  Litteraire   d'ltalie,  (Paris, 


260 


ITALIAN  WARS. 


II. 

Her  most 
powerful 
states. 


part  At  the  period  before  us,  the  principal  states  of 
Italy  were,  the  republics  of  Venice  and  Florence, 
the  duchy  of  Milan,  the  papal  see,  and  the  king- 
dom of  Naples.  The  others  may  be  regarded  mere- 
ly as  satellites,  revolving  round  some  one  or  other 
of  these  superior  powers,  by  whom  their  respective 
movements  were  regulated  and  controlled.  Venice 
may  be  considered  as  the  most  formidable  of  the 
great  powers,  taking  into  consideration  her  wealth, 
her  powerful  navy,  her  territory  in  the  north,  and 
princely  colonial  domain.  There  was  no  govern- 
ment in  that  age  which  attracted  such  general  ad- 
miration, both  from  natives  and  foreigners ;  who 
seem  to  have  looked  upon  it  as  affording  the  very 
best  model  of  political  wisdom. 5  Yet  there  was 
no  country  where  the  citizen  enjoyed  less  positive 
freedom  ;  none  whose  foreign  relations  were 
conducted  with  more  absolute  selfishness,  and  with 
a  more  narrow,  bargaining  spirit,  savouring  rather 
of  a  company  of  traders  than  of  a  great  and  power- 
ful state.  But  all  this  was  compensated,  in  the 
eyes  of  her  contemporaries,  by  the  stability  of  her 
institutions,  which  still  remained  unshaken,  amidst 
revolutions  which  had  convulsed  or  overturned 
every  other  social  fabric  in  Italy.  6 

1811  -  19,)  torn.  viii.  pp.  32,  74,)  republica,  que  mas  tiempo  ha  du- 
but  from  the  imputations  they  con-  ratio  en  el  mundo  por  la  buena 
tained  on  the  court  of  Rome.  forma  de  su  regimiento,  e  donde 

5"Aquel  Senado  e  Sefioria  de  con  mejor  manera  han  los  hombres 
Venecianos,"  says  Gonzalo  de  vivido  en  comunidad  sin  lener 
Oviedo,  "donde  me  parece  a  mi  Rey  ;"  &c.  Quincuagenas,  MS., 
que  esta  recopido  todo  el  saber  e  bat.  1,  quinc.  3,  dial.  44. 
prudencia  de  los  hombres  huma-  6  Of  au  the  incense  which  poets 
nos  ;  porque  es  la  gente  del  mundo  and  politicians  have  offered  to  the 
que  mejor  se  sabe  gobernar ;  e  la    Queen  of  the  Adriatic,   none  is 


EXPEDITION  OF  CHARLES  VIII. 


261 


The  government  of  Milan  was  at  this  time  chapter 
under  the  direction  of  Lodovico  Sforza,  or  Lodo- 
vico  the  Moor,  as  he  is  commonly  called ;  an  epithet 
suggested  by  his  complexion,  but  which  he  will- 
ingly retained,  as  indicating  the  superior  craftiness 
on  which  he  valued  himself. 7  He  held  the  reins  in 
the  name  of  his  nephew,  then  a  minor,  until  a 
convenient  season  should  arrive  for  assuming  them 
in  his  own.  His  cool,  perfidious  character  was 
stained  with  the  worst  vices  of  the  most  profligate 
class  of  Italian  statesmen  of  that  period. 

The  central  parts  of  Italy  were  occupied  by  the 
republic  of  Florence,  which  had  ever  been  the 
rallying  point  of  the  friends  of  freedom,  too  often 
of  faction  ;  but  which  had  now  resigned  itself  to 
the  dominion  of  the  Medici,  whose  cultivated  tastes 
and  munificent  patronage  shed  a  splendid  illusion 
over  their  administration,  which  has  blinded  the 
eyes  of  contemporaries,  and  even  of  posterity. 

The  papal  chair  was  filled  by  Alexander  the 
Sixth,  a  pontiff  whose  licentiousness,  avarice,  and 
unblushing  effrontery  have  been  the  theme  of  un- 
mingled  reproach,  with  Catholic  as  well  as  Protes- 
tant writers.  His  preferment  was  effected  by  lavish 
bribery,  and  *by  his  consummate  address,  as  well  as 
energy  of  character.  Although  a  native  Spaniard, 
his  election  was  extremely  unpalatable  to  Ferdi- 

more  exquisite  than  that  conveyed  Tu  tibi  vel  reges  cives  facis  5  O  decus !  O  lnx 
in  tViPRA  fpw   linps    whPTP   SUnna-       Ausoniaj,  per  quam  libera  turba  sumus  ; 

in  inese  iiav  lines,  wnere  sanna-    rer  qilam  barbaries  nobis  non  imperat, 
zaro  notices  her  position  as  the  et  Sol 

bulwark  of  Christendom.  Exoriens  nostro  clariui  orhe  micat ! " 

Opera  Latina,  lib.  3,  eleg.  1,  95. 

UUnaRomT  re"ina'  UlUP  ,,ulcherrima  7  Guicciardini.  Istoria,  torn.  i. 

jEmula,  qua?  terris,  quae  dominaris  aquis!    lib.  3,  p.  147. 


ITALIAN  WARS. 


nand  and  Isabella,  who  deprecated  the  scandal  it 
must  bring  upon  the  church,  and  who  had  little  to 
hope  for  themselves,  in  a  political  view,  from  the 
elevation  of  one  of  their  own  subjects  even,  whose 
mercenary  spirit  placed  him  at  the  control  of  the 
highest  bidder.  8 

The  Neapolitan  sceptre  was  swayed  by  Ferdi- 
nand the  First,  whose  father,  Alfonso  the  Fifth,  the 
uncle  of  Ferdinand  of  Aragon,  had  obtained  the 
crown  by  the  adoption  of  Joanna  of  Naples,  or 
rather  by  his  own  good  sword.  Alfonso  settled  his 
conquest  on  his  illegitimate  son  Ferdinand,  to  the 
prejudice  of  the  rights  of  Aragon,  by  whose  blood 
and  treasure  he  had  achieved  it.  Ferdinand's  char- 
acter, the  very  opposite  of  his  noble  father's,  was 
dark,  wily,  and  ferocious.  His  life  was  spent  in 
conflict  with  his  great  feudal  nobility,  many  of 
whom  supported  the  pretensions  of  the  Angevin 
family.  But  his  superior  craft  enabled  him  to  foil 
every  attempt  of  his  enemies.  In  effecting  this, 
indeed,  he  shrunk  from  no  deed  of  treachery  or  vio- 
lence, however  atrocious,  and  in  the  end  had  the 
satisfaction  of  establishing  his  authority,  undisput- 
ed, on  the  fears  of  his  subjects.    He  was  about 


8  Peter  Martyr,  Opus  Epist., 
epist.  119,  123.—  Fleury,  His- 
toire  Ecclesiastique,  contin.  (Paris, 
1722,)  torn.  xxiv.  lib.  117,  p.  545. 
—  Peter  Martyr,  whose  residence 
and  rank  at  the  Spanish  court  gave 
him  access  to  the  best  sources  of 
information  as  to  the  repute  in 
which  the  new  pontiff  was  held 
there,  expresses  himself  in  one  of 
his  letters  to  Cardinal  ISforza,  who 


had  assisted  at  his  election,  in  the 
following  unequivocal  language. 
"  Sed  hoc  habeto,  princeps  illus- 
trissime,  non  placuisse  meis  Regi- 
bus  pontificatum  ad  Alexandrum, 
quamvis  eorum  ditionarium,  per- 
venisse.  Verentur  namque  ne  illi- 
us  cupiditas,  ne  ambitio,  ne  (q  nod 
gravius)  mollities  fUialis  Christia- 
nam  religionem  in  praeceps  trahat  " 
Epist.  119. 


EXPEDITION  OF  CHARLES  VIII. 


263 


seventy  years  of  age  at  the  period  of  which  we  are  chapter 

treating,  1493.    The  heir  apparent,  Alfonso,  was   _  

equally  sanguinary  in  his  temper,  though  possessing 
less  talent  for  dissimulation  than  his  father. 

Such  was  the  character  of  the  principal  Italian  character  0r 

A  1  Italian  poli- 

courts  at  the  close  of  the  fifteenth  century.  The  !ics< 
politics  of  the  country  were  necessarily  regulated 
by  the  temper  and  views  of  the  leading  powers. 
They  were  essentially  selfish  and  personal.  The 
ancient  republican  forms  had  been  gradually  effaced 
during  this  century,  and  more  arbitrary  ones  intro- 
duced. The  name  of  freedom,  indeed,  was  still 
inscribed  on  their  banners,  but  the  spirit  had  disap- 
peared. In  almost  every  state,  great  or  small,  some 
military  adventurer,  or  crafty  statesman,  had  suc- 
ceeded in  raising  his  own  authority  on  the  liberties 
of  his  country ;  and  his  sole  aim  seemed  to  be  to 
enlarge  it  still  further,  and  to  secure  it  against  the 
conspiracies  and  revolutions,  which  the  reminis- 
cence of  ancient  independence  naturally  called 
forth.  Such  was  the  case  with  Tuscany,  Milan, 
Naples,  and  the  numerous  subordinate  states.  In 
Rome,  the  pontiff  proposed  no  higher  object  than 
the  concentration  of  wealth  and  public  honors  in 
the  hands  of  his  own  family.  In  short,  the  admin- 
istration of  every  state  seemed  to  be  managed  with 
exclusive  reference  to  the  personal  interests  of  its 
chief.  Venice  was  the  only  power  of  sufficient 
strength  and  stability  to  engage  in  more  extended 
schemes  of  policy,  and  even  these  were  conducted, 
as  has  been  already  noticed,  in  the  narrow  and  cal- 
culating spirit  of  a  trading  corporation. 


264 


ITALIAN  WARS. 


part  But,  while  no  spark  of  generous  patriotism  seem- 
 ■ —  ed  to  warm  the  bosoms  of  the  Italians  ;  while  no 

Internal 

prosperity.  sense  of  public  good,  or  even  menace  of  foreign  in- 
vasion, could  bring  them  to  act  in  concert  with  one 
another,9  the  internal  condition  of  the  country  was 
eminently  prosperous.  Italy  had  far  outstripped  the 
rest  of  Europe  in  the  various  arts  of  civilized  life  ; 
and  she  everywhere  afforded  the  evidence  of  facul- 
ties developed  by  unceasing  intellectual  action. 
The  face  of  the  country  itself  was  like  a  garden  ; 
"  cultivated  through  all  its  plains  to  the  very  tops 
of  the  mountains  ;  teeming  with  population,  with 
riches,  and  an  unlimited  commerce  ;  illustrated  by 
many  munificent  princes,  by  the  splendor  of  many 
noble  and  beautiful  cities,  and  by  the  majesty  of 
religion  ;  and  adorned  with  all  those  rare  and  pre- 
cious gifts,  which  render  a  name  glorious  among  the 
nations."10  Such  are  the  glowing  strains  in  which 
the  Tuscan  historian  celebrates  the  prosperity  of 
his  country,  ere  yet  the  storm  of  war  had  descend- 
ed on  her  beautiful  valleys. 

BfoSuesof  ^n*s  scene  °f  domestic  tranquillity  was  destined 
to  be  changed,  by  that  terrible  invasion  which  the 
ambition  of  Lodovico  Sforza  brought  upon  his  coun- 
try. He  had  already  organized  a  coalition  of  the 
northern  powers  of  Italy,  to  defeat  the  interference 
of  the  king  of  Naples  in  behalf  of  his  grandson, 


9  A  remarkable  example  of  this 
occurred  in  the  middle  of  the  fif- 
teenth century,  when  the  inunda- 
tion of  the  Turks,  which  seemed 
ready  to  burst  upon  them,  after 
overwhelming   the   Arabian  and 


Greek  empires,  had  no  power  to 
still  the  voice  of  faction,  or  to  con- 
centrate the  attention  of  the  Italian 
states,  even  for  a  moment. 

10  Guicciardini,  Istoria,  torn.  i. 
lib.  1,  p.  2. 


EXPEDITION  OF  CHARLES  VIII. 


265 


the  rightful  duke  of  Milan,  whom  his  uncle  held  in  chapteb 

subjection  during  a  protracted  minority,  while  he  1 — 

exercised  all  the  real  functions  of  sovereignty  in  his 
name.  Not  feeling  sufficiently  secure  from  his  Ital- 
ian confederacy,  Sforza  invited  the  king  of  France 
to  revive  the  hereditary  claims  of  the  house  of  An- 
jou  to  the  crown  of  Naples,  promising  to  aid  him 
in  the  enterprise  with  all  his  resources.  In  this 
way,  this  wily  politician  proposed  to  divert  the 
storm  fr<  im  his  own  head,  by  giving  Ferdinand  suf- 
ficient occupation  at  home. 

The  throne  of  France  was  at  that  time  filled  by  charies 

J     VIII.,  of 

Charles  the  Eighth,  a  monarch  scarcely  twenty-two  France* 
years  of  age.  His  father,  Louis  the  Eleventh,  had 
given  him  an  education  unbecoming,  not  only  a 
great  prince,  but  even  a  private  gentleman.  He 
would  allow  him  to  learn  no  other  Latin,  says 
Bran  to  me,  than  his  favorite  maxim,  "  Qui  nescit 
dissimulare,  nescit  regnare."11  Charles  made  some 
amends  for  this,  though  with  little  judgment,  in  la- 
ter life,  when  left  to  his  own  disposal.  His  favorite 
studies  were  the  exploits  of  celebrated  conquerors, 
of  Ccesai  and  Charlemagne  particularly,  which  filled 
his  young  mind  with  vague  and  visionary  ideas  of 
glory.  These  dreams  were  still  further  nourished 
by  the  tourneys  and  other  chivalrous  spectacles  of 
the  age,  in  which  he  delighted,  until  he  seems  to 
have  imagined  himself  some  doughty  paladin  of 
romance,  destined  to  the  achievement  of  a  grand 
and  perilous  enterprise.    It  affords  some  proof  of 

11  Brantome,  Vies  des  Hommes    is,  1822-3,)  torn.  ii.  disc.  1,  pp. 
Illustres,  CEuvres  Comple  les,  (Par-    2,  20. 

VOL.  II.  34 


266 


ITALIAN  WARS. 


part     this  exalted  state  of  his  imagination,  that  he  gave 
.  •    —  his  only  son  the  name  of  Orlando,  after  the  cele- 
brated hero  of  Roncesvalles. 12 

With  a  mind  thus  excited  by  chimerical  visions 
of  military  glory,  he  lent  a  willing  ear  to  the  artful 
propositions  of  Sforza.  In  the  extravagance  of 
vanity,  fed  by  the  adulation  of  interested  parasites, 
he  affected  to  regard  the  enterprise  against  Naples 
as  only  opening  the  way  to  a  career  of  more  splen- 
did conquests,  which  were  to  terminate  in  the 
capture  of  Constantinople,  and  the  recovery  of  the 
Holy  Sepulchre.  He  even  went  so  far  as  to  pur- 
chase of  Andrew  Paleologus,  the  nephew  and  heir 
of  Constantine,  the  last  of  the  Caesars,  his  title  to 
the  Creek  empire.*3 
nispreten-       Nothing  could  be  more  unsound,  according  to  the 

sions  to  °  ° 

Naples.  principles  of  the  present  day,  than  Charles's  claims 
to  the  crown  of  Naples.  Without  discussing  the 
original  pretensions  of  the  rival  houses  of  Aragon 
and  Anjou,  it  is  sufficient  to  state,  that,  at  the  time 
of  Charles  the  Eighth's  invasion,  the  Neapolitan 
throne  had  been  in  the  possession  of  the  Aragonese 
family  more  than  half  a  century,  under  three  suc- 
cessive princes  solemnly  recognised  by  the  people, 
sanctioned  by  repeated  investitures  of  the  papal 
suzerain,  and  admitted  by  all  the  states  of  Europe. 

l*2  Sismondi,  Hist,  des  Fran^ais,  demie  des  Inscriptions  et  Belles- 
torn,  xv.  p.  112.  —  Gaillard,  Ri-  Lettres,  tom.  xvii.  pp.  539- 579.) 
valite,  tom.  iv.  pp.  2,  3.  This  document,  as  well  as  some 

13  Daru,  Histoire  de  la  Repub-  others  which  appeared  on  the  eve 

lique   de  Venise,   (Paris,  1821,)  of  Charles's  expedition,  breathes  a 

tom.  iii.  liv.  20.  — See  the  deed  of  tone  of  Quixotic  and  religious  en- 

eeRsion,  in  the  memoir  of  M.  de  thusiasm,  that  transports  us  back 

Foncemagne.  (Memoires  de  l'Aca-  to  the  days  of  the  crusades. 


EXPEDITION  OF  CHARLES  VIII. 


267 


If  all  this  did  not  give  validity  to  their  title,  when 
was  the  nation  to  expeet  repose  ?  Charles's  claim, 
on  the  other  hand,  was  derived  originally  from 
a  testamentary  bequest  of  Rene,  count  of  Prov- 
ence, operating  to  the  exclusion  of  the  son  of  his 
own  daughter,  the  rightful  heir  of  the  house  of 
Anjou ;  Naples  being  too  notoriously  a  female  fief 
to  afford  any  pretext  for  the  action  of  the  Salic 
law.  The  pretensions  of  Ferdinand,  of  Spain,  as 
representative  of  the  legitimate  branch  of  Aragon, 
were  far  more  plausible.14 

Independently  of  the  defects  in  Charles's  title, 
his  position  wras  such  as  to  make  the  projected  ex- 
pedition every  way  impolitic.  A  misunderstanding 
had  for  some  time  subsisted  between  him  and  the 
Spanish  sovereigns,  and  he  was  at  open  war  with 
Germany  and  England  ;  so  that  it  was  only  by 
large  concessions,  that  he  could  hope  to  secure  their 
acquiescence  in  an  enterprise  most  precarious  in  its 
character,  and  where  even  complete  success  could 
be  of  no  permanent  benefit  to  his  kingdom.  "  He 
did  not  understand,"  says  Voltaire,  "  that  a  dozen 
villages  adjacent  to  one's  territory,  are  of  more 
value  than  a  kingdom  four  hundred  leagues  dis- 
tant." 15   By  the  treaties  of  Etaples  and  Senlis,  he 


14  The  conflicting  claims  of  An- 
ion antl  Aragon  are  stated  at  length 
by  Gaillard,  with  more  candor  and 
impartiality  than  were  to  be  ex- 
pected from  a  French  writer.  (His- 
toire  de  Francois  I.,  (Paris,  1769,) 
torn.  i.  pp.  7*1-92.)  They  form 
the  subject  of  a  juvenile  essay  of 
Gibbon,  in  which  we  may  discern 
the  germs  of  many  of  the  peculiari- 
ties which  afterwards  characterized 


the  historian  of  the  Decline  and 
Fall.  Miscellaneous  Works,  (Lon- 
don, 1814,)  vol.  iii.  pp.  206-222. 

15  Essai  sur  les  Moeurs,  chap. 
107.  —  His  politic  father,  Louis 
XL,  acted  on  this  principle,  for  he 
made  no  attempt  to  maintain  his 
pretensions  to  Naples;  although 
Mably  affects  to  doubt  'whether 
this  were  not  the  result  of  neces- 
sity rather  than  policy.    "  11  est 


268 


ITALIAN  WARS. 


respecting 
Roiissillon 


part  purchased  a  reconciliation  with  Henry  the  Seventh 
— — -  of  England,  and  with  Maximilian,  the  emperor 
elect ;  and  finally,  by  that  of  Barcelona,  effected  an 
amicable  adjustment  of  his  difficulties  with  Spain.16 
JSSS2cun«M  This  treaty,  which  involved  the  restoration  of 
Roussillon  and  Cerdagne,  was  of  great  importance 
to  the  crown  of  Aragon.  These  provinces,  it  will 
be  remembered,  had  been  originally  mortgaged  by 
Ferdinand's  father,  King  John  the  Second,  to  Louis 
the  Eleventh  of  France,  for  the  sum  of  three  hun- 
dred thousand  crowns,  in  consideration  of  aid  to  be 
afforded  by  the  latter  monarch  against  the  Catalan 
insurgents.  Although  the  stipulated  sum  had  never 
been  paid  by  Aragon,  yet  a  plausible  pretext  for 
requiring  the  restitution  was  afforded  by  Louis  the 
Eleventh's  incomplete  performance  of  his  engage- 
ments, as  well  as  by  the  ample  reimbursement, 
which  the  French  government  had  already  derived 
from  the  revenues  of  these  countries.17   This  treaty 

douteux  si  cette  moderation  fut  of  Aragon  ;  and  some  state,  that 

l'ouvrage  d'une  connoissance  ap-  payment  of  the  debt,  for  which  the 

profondie  de  ses  vrais  interets,  on  provinces  were  mortgaged,  was  sub- 

seulement  de  cette  defiance  quril  sequently  tendered  to  the  French 

avoit  des  grands  de  son  royaume,  king.    (See,  among  others,  Sis- 

et  qu'il  n'osoit  perdre  de  vue."  mondi,  Republiques  ltaliennes,  torn. 

Observations    sur    Tllistoire    de  xii.  p.  93.  —  Roscoe,  Life  and  Pon- 

France,  CEuvres,  (Paris,  1794-5,)  tificate  of  Leo  X.,  (London,  1827,) 

liv.  6,  chap.  4.  vol.  i.  p.  117.)    The  first  of  these 

16  Flassan,  Histoire  de  la  Diplo-  statements  is  a  palpable  error;  and 

matie  Franchise,   (Paris,  1809,)  I  find  no  evidence  of  the  last  in  any 

torn  i.  pp.  254-259. —  Dumont,  Spanish  authority,  where,  if  true, 

Corps  Tjniversel  Diplomatique  du  it  would  naturally  have  been  no- 

Droit    des   Gens,    (Amsterdam,  ticed.    I  must,  indeed,  except  Ber- 

1726-31,)  torn.  iii.  pp.  297-300.  naldez,  who  says,  that  Ferdinand 

H  See  the  narrative  of  these  having  repaid  the  money,  borrowed 

transactions  in  the  Fifth  and  Sixth  by  his  father  from  Louis  XL,  to 

Chapters  of  Part  1.  of  this  History.  Charles  VUL,  the  latter  mom  re  h 

Most  historians  seem  to  take  it  returned  it  to  Isabella,  in  consid- 

for  granted,  that  Louis  XI.  ad-  eration  of  the  great  expenses  in- 

vanced  a  sum  of  money  to  the  king  curred  by  the  Moorish  war.    It  is 


EXPEDITION  OF  CHARLES  VIII.  269 

had  long  been  a  principal  object  of  Ferdinand's  chapter 

policy.    He  had  not,  indeed,  confined  himself  to  

negotiation,  but  had  made  active  demonstrations 
more  than  once  of  occupying  the  contested  territory 
by  force.  Negotiation,  however,  was  more  conso- 
nant to  his  habitual  policy  ;  and,  after  the  termina- 
tion of  the  Moorish  war,  he  pressed  it  with  the 
utmost  vigor,  repairing  with  the  queen  to  Barce- 
lona, in  order  to  watch  over  the  deliberations  of  the 
envoys  of  the  two  nations  at  Figueras.18 

The  French  historians  accuse  Ferdinand  of  brib-  charie»8 

counsellors 

rng  two  ecclesiastics,  in  high  influence  at  their  peJdfnEd.0' 
court,  to  make  such  a  representation  of  the  affair, 
as  should  alarm  the  conscience  of  the  young  mon- 
arch. These  holy  men  insisted  on  the  restoration 
of  Roussillon  as  an  act  of  justice  ;  since  the  sums 
for  which  it  had  been  mortgaged,  though  not  repaid, 
had  been  spent  in  the  common  cause  of  Christen- 
dom, the  Moorish  war.  The  soul,  they  said,  could 
never  hope  to  escape  from  purgatory,  until  resti- 
tution was  made  of  all  property  unlawfully  held 
during  life.  His  royal  father,  Louis  the  Eleventh, 
was  clearly  in  this  predicament,  as  he  himself 
would  hereafter  be,  unless  the  Spanish  territories 
should  be  relinquished  ;  a  measure,  moreover,  the 
more  obligatory  on  him,  since  it  was  well  known 
to  be  the  dying  request  of  his  parent.  These. 

a  pity  that  this  romantic  piece  of  be  relied  on  for  what  passed  in  his 

gallantry  does  not  rest  on  any  bet-  own  province,  may  be  found  fre- 

ter  foundation  than  the  Curate  of  quentiy  tripping  in  the  details  of 

Los  Palacios,  who  shows  a  degree  what  passed  out  of  it.  Bernaldcz, 

of  ignorance  in  the  first  part  of  his  Reyes  Catolicos,  MS.,  cap.  117. 
statement,  that  entitles  him  to  little       W  Zurita,  Hist,  del  Rey  Hernan- 

credit   in   the  last.    Indeed,  the  do,  lib.  1,  cap.  4,  7,  10. 
worthy  curate,  although  much  to 


210 


ITALIAN  WARS. 


part     arguments  made  a  suitable'impression  on  the  young 


ii. 


-  monarch,  and  a  still  deeper  on  his  sister,  the  duch- 
ess of  Beaujeu,  who  exercised  great  influence  over 
him,  and  who  believed  her  own  soul  in  peril  of 
eternal  damnation  by  deferring  the  act  of  restora- 
tion any  longer.  The  effect  of  this  cogent  reason- 
ing was  no  doubt  greatly  enhanced  by  the  reckless 
impatience  of  Charles,  who  calculated  no  cost  in 
the  prosecution  of  his  chimerical  enterprise.  With 
these  amicable  dispositions  an  arrangement  was  at 
length  concluded,  and  received  the  signatures  of 
the  respective  monarchs  on  the  same  day,  being 
signed  by  Charles  at  Tours,  and  by  Ferdinand  and 
Isabella  at  Barcelona,  January  19th,  1493. 19 
J^a»y  °f  The  principal  articles  of  the  treaty  provided,  that 
the  contracting  parties  should  mutually  aid  each 
other  against  all  enemies  ;  that  they  should  recip- 
rocally prefer  this  alliance  to  that  with  any  other, 
the  vicar  of  Christ  excepted ;  that  the  Spanish  sove- 
reigns should  enter  into  no  understanding  with  any 
power,  the  vicar  of  Christ  excepted,  prejudicial  to  the 
interests  of  France  ;  that  their  children  should  not  be 
disposed  of  in  marriage  to  the  kings  of  England,  or 
of  the  Romans,  or  to  any  enemy  of  France,  with- 
19  Fleury,  Histoire  Ecclesias-  employed  priests  in  their  negotia- 
tique,  contin.,  torn.  xxiv.  pp.  533-  tions.  "  Car  toutes  leurs  ceuvres 
555.  —  Zurita,  Hist,  del  Rey  Her-  ont  fait  mener  et  conduire  par 
nando,  lib.  1,  cap.  14. — Daru,  telles  gens  (religieux),  ou  par  hy- 
Hist.  de  Venise,  torn.  iii.  pp.  51,  pocrisie,  ou  afin  de  moins  despen- 
52.  —  Gaillard,  Rivalitl,  torn.  iv.  dre."  (Memoires,  p.  211.)  The 
p.  10. — Abarca,  Reyes  de  Ara-  French  king,  however,  made  more 
gon,  torn.  ii.  rey  30,  cap.  0.  use  of  the  clergy  in  this  very  trans- 

Comines,  alluding  to  the  affair   action  than  the  Spanish.  Zurita. 
of  Roussillon,  says  that  Ferdinand    Hist,  del  Rey  Hernando,  lib.  I, 
and  Isabella,  whether  from  motives    cap.  10. 
of  economy  or  hypocrisy,  always 


EXPEDITION  OF  CHARLES  VIII. 


271 


out  the  French  king's  consent.    It  was  finally  stip-  chapter 

ulated  that  Roussillon  and  Cerdagne  should  be  re-   

stored  to  Aragon ;  but  that,  as  doubts  might  be 
entertained  to  which  power  the  possession  of  these 
countries  rightfully  appertained,  arbitrators  named 
by  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  should  be  appointed,  if 
requested  by  the  French  monarch,  with  full  power 
to  decide  the  question,  by  whose  judgment  the 
contracting  parties  mutually  promised  to  abide. 
This  last  provision,  obviously  too  well  guarded  to 
jeopard  the  interests  of  the  Spanish  sovereigns, 
was  introduced  to  allay  in  some  measure  the  discon- 
tents of  the  French,  who  loudly  inveighed  against 
their  cabinet,  as  sacrificing  the  interests  of  the  na- 
tion ;  accusing,  indeed,  the  cardinal  D'Albi,  the 
principal  agent  in  the  negotiation,  of  being  in  the 
pay  of  Ferdinand.20 

The  treaty  excited  equal  surprise  and  satisfaction  taimpor- 

J  11  tance  to 

in  Spain,  where  Roussillon  was  regarded  as  of  the  Spain 
last  importance,  not  merely  from  the  extent  of  its 
resources,  but  from  its  local  position,  which  made  it 
the  key  of  Catalonia.    The  nation,  says  Zurita, 
looked  on  its  recovery  as  scarcely  less  important 


20  Paolo  Giovio,  ITistoria  sui 
Temporis,  (Basilia?,  1578,)  lib.  1, 
p.  16. —  The  treaty  of  Barcelona 
is  given  at  length  by  Dumont. 
(Corps  Diplomatique,  torn.  iii.  pp. 
297-300.)  It  is  reported  with 
sufficient  inaccuracy  by  many  his- 
torians, who  make  no  hesitation  in 
saying-,  that  Ferdinand  expressly 
bound  himself,  by  one  of  the  arti- 
cles, not  to  interfere  with  Charles's 
meditated  attempt  on  Naples. 
(Gaillard,  Rivalite,  torn.  iv.  p.  11 


—  Voltaire,  Essai  sur  les  Mceurs, 
chap.  107.  —  Comines,  Memoires, 
liv.  8,  chap.  23.  —  Giovio,  Hist, 
sui  Temporis,  lib.  L  p.  16. — 
Varillas,  Politique  d'Espagne,  ou 
du  Roi  Ferdinand,  (Amsterdam, 
1688,)  pp.  11,  12.  — Roscoe,  Life 
of  Leo  X.,  torn.  i.  chap.  3.)  So 
far  from  this,  there  is  no  allusion 
whatever  to  the  proposed  expedi- 
tion in  the  treaty,  nor  is  the  name 
of  Naples  once  mentioned  in  it. 


272 


ITALIAN  WARS. 


ii. 


French  inva 
sioii.in  ItaJv 


part  than  the  conquest  of  Granada;  and  they  doubted 
some  sinister  motive,  or  deeper  policy  than  appear- 
ed in  the  conduct  of  the  French  king.  He  was 
influenced,  however,  by  no  deeper  policy  than  the 
cravings  of  a  puerile  ambition.21 
Frenchainlvha!  The  preparations  of  Charles,  in  the  mean  while, 
excited  general  alarm  throughout  Italy.  Ferdi- 
nand, the  old  king  of  Naples,  who  in  vain  endeav- 
oured to  arrest  them  by  negotiation,  had  died  in  the 
beginning  of  1494.  He  was  succeeded  by  his  son 
Alfonso,  a  prince  of  bolder  but  less  politic  charac- 
ter, and  equally  odious,  from  the  cruelty  of  his  dis- 
position, with  his  father.  He  lost  no  time  in  put- 
ting his  kingdom  in  a  posture  of  defence  ;  but  he 
wanted  the  best  of  all  defences,  the  attachment  of 
his  subjects.  His  interests  were  supported  by  the 
Florentine  republic  and  the  pope,  whose  family 
had  intermarried  with  the  royal  house  of  Naples. 
Venice  stood  ciloof,  secure  in  her  remoteness,  un- 
willing to  compromise  her  interests  by  too  precipi- 
tate a  declaration  in  favor  of  either  party. 
espeSi?  The  European  powers  regarded  the  expedition 
of  Charles  the  Eighth  with  somewhat  different 
feelings ;  most  of  them  were  not  unwilling  to  see 
so  formidable  a  prince  waste  his  resources  in  a  re- 
mote and  chimerical  expedition ;  Ferdinand,  how- 
ever, contemplated  with  more  anxiety  an  event, 
which  might  terminate  in  the  subversion  of  the 
Neapolitan  branch  of  his  house,  and  bring  a  pow- 
erful and  active  neighbour  in  contact  with  his  own 


21  Zurita,  Hist,  del  Rey  Hernando,  lib.  1,  cap.  18.  —  Abarca  Reyes 
de  Aragon,  ubi  supra. 


EXPEDITION  OF  CHARLES  VIII. 


273 


dominions  in  Sicily.    He  lost  no  time  in  fortifying  chapter 

the  faltering  courage  of  the  pope  by  assurances  of   _ — 

support.  His  ambassador,  then  resident  at  the  pa* 
pal  court,  was  Garcilasso  de  la  Vega,  father  of  the 
illustrious  poet  of  that  name,  and  familiar  to  the 
reader  by  his  exploits  in  the  Granadine  war.  This 
personage  with  rare  political  sagacity  combined  an 
energy  of  purpose,  which  could  not  fail  to  infuse 
courage  into  the  hearts  of  others.  He  urged  the 
pope  to  rely  on  his  master,  the  king  of  Aragon, 
who,  he  assured  him,  would  devote  his  whole  re- 
sources, if  necessary,  to  the  protection  of  his  per- 
son, honor,  and  estate.  Alexander  would  gladly 
have  had  this  promise  under  the  hand  of  Ferdi- 
nand ;  but  the  latter  did  not  think  it  expedient, 
considering  his  delicate  relations  with  France,  to 
put  himself  so  far  in  the  power  of  the  wily  pontiff.22 

In  the  mean  time,  Charles's  preparations  went  Preparation 

7  .        .  of  Charles. 

forward  with  the  languor  and  vacillation  resulting 
from  divided  councils  and  multiplied  embarrass- 
ments. "  Nothing  essential  to  the  conduct  of  a 
war  was  at  hand,"  says  Comines.  The  king  was 
very  young,  weak  in  person,  headstrong  in  will, 
surrounded  by  few  discreet  counsellors,  and  wholly 
destitute  of  the  requisite  funds.23  His  own  im- 
patience, however,  was  stimulated  by  that  of  the 
youthful  chivalry  of  his  court,  who  burned  for  an 
opportunity  of  distinction  ;  as  well  as  by  the  repre- 
ss Zurita,  Hist,  del  Rey  Hernan-  Quincuagenas,  MS.,  bat.  1,  quinc. 
do,  lib.  1,  cap.  28.  —  Bembo,  Isto-    3,  dial.  43. 

ria  Viniziana,  (Milano,  1809,)  torn.       23  Comines,  Memoires,  liv.  7, 
i.  lib.  2,  pp.  118,  119.  — Oviedo,  introd. 


VOL.  IT. 


35 


271 


ITALIAN  WARS. 


paiit  sentations  of  the  Neapolitan  exiles,  who  hoped,  un- 
-  dor  his  protection,  to  reestablish  themselves  in  their 

own  country.  Several  of  these,  weary  with  the 
delay  already  experienced,  made  overtures  to  King 
Ferdinand  to  undertake  the  enterprise  on  his  own 
behalf,  and  to  assert  his  legitimate  pretensions  to 
the  crown  of  Naples,  which,  they  assured  him,  a 
large  party  in  the  country  was  ready  to  sustain. 
The  sagacious  monarch,  however,  knew  how  little 
reliance  was  to  be  placed  on  the  reports  of  exiles, 
whose  imaginations  readily  exaggerated  the  amount 
of  disaffection  in  their  own  country.  But,  alihough 
the  season  had  not  yet  arrived  for  asserting  his  own 
paramount  claims,  he  was  determined  to  tolerate 
those  of  no  other  potentate.24 

Charles  entertained  so  little  suspicion  of  this, 
that,  in  the  month  of  June,  he  despatched  an  envoy 
to  the  Spanish  court,  requiring  Ferdinand's  fulfil- 
ment of  the  treaty  of  Barcelona,  by  aiding  him  w  ith 
men  and  money,  and  by  throwing  open  his  ports  in 
Sicily  for  the  French  navy.  "  This  gracious  propo- 
sition," says  the  Aragonese  historian,  "  he  accom- 
panied with  information  of  his  proposed  expedition 
against  the  Turks  ;  stating  incidentally,  as  a  thing 
of  no  consequence,  his  intention  to  take  Naples  by 
the  way."25 

34  Zurita,  Hist,  del  Rey  Her-  the  enterprise,  with  one  which  may 
nando,  lib.  1,  cap.  20.  —  Peter  be  considered  the  gist  of  the  whole 
Martyr,  Opus  Epist.,  epist.  123.  matter.  "  El  Rey  entendia  bien 
—  Comines,  Memoires,  liv.  7,  chap,  que  no  era  tan  facil  la  causa  que 
3. —  Mariana,  Hist,  de  Espafia,  se  proponia."  lib.  1,  cap.  20. 
torn.  ii.  lib.  20,  cap.  6.  —  Zurita  2^  Zurita,  Hist,  del  Rey  Her- 
concludes  the  arguments  which  de-  nando,  lib.  1,  cap.  31. 
cided  Ferdinand  against  assuming 


EXPEDITION  OF  CHARLES  VIII. 


275 


Ferdinand  saw  the  time  was  arrived  for  coming  chapter 

to  an  explicit  declaration  with  the  French  court.   -  

He  appointed  a  special  mission,  in  order  to  do  this  ^£^^e 
in  the  least  offensive  manner  possible.    The  person  court' 
selected  for  this  delicate  task  was  Alonso  de  Silva, 
brother  of  the  count  of  Cifuentes,  and  clavero  of 
Calatrava,  a  cavalier  possessed  of  the  coolness  and 
address  requisite  for  diplomatic  success.26 

The  ambassador,  on  arriving  at  the  French  court,  Announces 

7  °  #  Ferdinand'a 

found  it  at  Vienne  in  all  the  bustle  of  preparation  vicws- 
for  immediate  departure.  After  seeking  in  vain  a 
private  audience  from  King  Charles,  he  explained 
to  him  the  purport  of  his  mission  in  the  presence  of 
his  courtiers.  He  assured  him  of  the  satisfaction 
which  the  king  of  Aragon  had  experienced,  at 
receiving  intelligence  of  his  projected  expedition 
against  the  infidel.  Nothing  gave  his  master  so 
great  contentment,  as  to  see  his  brother  monarchs 
employing  their  arms,  and  expending  their  revenues, 
against  the  enemies  of  the  Cross  ;  where  even  fail- 
ure was  greater  gain  than  success  in  other  wars. 
He  offered  Ferdinand's  assistance  in  the  prosecu- 
tion of  such  wars,  even  though  they  should  be 
directed  against  the  Mahometans  of  Africa,  over 
whom  the  papal  sanction  had  given  Spain  exclusive 
rights  of  conquest.  He  besought  the  king  not  to 
employ  the  forces  destined  to  so  glorious  a  purpose 
against  any  one  of  the  princes  of  Europe,  but  to 

2S  Oviedo  notices  Silva  as  one  of  their  manners,  and  the  magnifi- 

of  three  brothers,  all  gentle  cava-  cence  of  their  style  of  living.  This 

liers,  of  unblemished  honor,  re-  one,  Alonso,  he  describes  as  a  man 

markable  for  the  plainness  of  their  of  a  singularly  clear  head.  Quin- 

persons,  the  elegance  and  courtesy  cuagenas,  MS.,  bat.  1,  quinc.  4. 


276  ITALIAN  WARS. 

part  reflect  how  great  a  scandal  this  must  necessarilj 
 —  bring  on  the  Christian  cause  ;  above  all,  he  cau- 
tioned him  against  forming  any  designs  on  Naples, 
since  that  kingdom  was  a  fief  of  the  church,  in 
whose  favor  an  exception  was  expressly  made  by 
the  treaty  of  Barcelona,  which  recognised  her  alli- 
ance and  protection  as  paramount  to  every  other 
obligation.  Silva's  discourse  was  responded  to  by 
the  president  of  the  parliament  of  Paris  in  a  formal 
Latin  oration,  asserting  generally  Charles's  right  to 
Naples,  and  his  resolution  to  enforce  it  previously 
to  his  crusade  against  the  infidel.  As  soon  as  it 
was  concluded,  the  king  rose  and  abruptly  quitted 
the  apartment.27 
chariest di*      Some  days  after,  he  interrogated  the  Spanish 

satisfaction.  J  '  o  i 

ambassador,  whether  his  master  would  not,  in 
case  of  a  war  with  Portugal,  feel  warranted  by  the 
terms  of  the  late  treaty  in  requiring  the  cooperation 
of  France,  and  on  what  plea  the  latter  power  could 
pretend  to  withhold  it.  To  the  first  of  these  prop- 
ositions the  ambassador  answered  in  the  affirmative, 
if  it  were  a  defensive  war,  but  not,  if  an  offensive 
one,  of  his  own  seeking  ;  an  explanation  by  no 
means  satisfactory  to  the  French  monarch.  In- 
deed, he  seems  not  to  have  been  at  all  prepared  for 
this  interpretation  of  the  compact.  He  had  relied 
on  this,  as  securing  without  any  doubt  the  non- 
interference of  Ferdinand,  if  not  his  actual  cooper- 
ation in  his  designs  against  Naples.  The  clause 
touching  the  rights  of  the  church  was  too  frequent 


27  Zurita,  Hist,  del  Rey  Hernando,  ubi  supra. 


EXPEDITION  OF  CHARLES  VIII. 


277 


in  public  treaties  to  excite  any  particular  attention  ;  chapter 

and  he  was  astounded  at  the  broad  ground,  which   

it  was  now  made  to  cover,  and  which  defeated  the 
sole  object  proposed  by  the  cession  of  Roussilloii. 
He  could  not  disguise  his  chagrin  and  indignation 
at  what  he  deemed  the  perfidy  of  the  Spanish 
court.  He  refused  all  further  intercourse  with 
Silva,  and  even  stationed  a  sentinel  at  his  gate,  to 
prevent  his  communication  with  his  subjects;  treat- 
ing him  as  the  envoy,  not  of  an  ally,  but  of  an 
open  enemy.  28 

The  unexpected  and  menacing  attitude,  how-  The  French 

1  cross  the 

ever,  assumed  by  Ferdinand,  failed  to  arrest  the  A,ps- 
operations  of  the  French  monarch,  who,  having 
completed  his  preparations,  left  Vienne  in  the 
month  of  August,  1494,  and  crossed  the  Alps  at 
the  head  of  the  most  formidable  host  which  had 
scaled  that  mountain  barrier  since  the  irruption  of 
the  northern  barbarians.29  It  will  be  unnecessary 
to  follow  his  movements  in  detail.    It  is  sufficient 


28  Zurita,  Hist,  del  Rey  Her-  held  with  a  prophetic   eye  the 

nando,  lib.  I,  cap.  31,  41.  magnitude  of  the  calamities  im- 

W  Vifleneuve,  Memoires,  apud  pending  over  his  country.    In  one 

Petitot,  Collection  des   Memoires,  of  his  letters,   he    writes  thus; 

torn.  xiv.  pp.  255,  256.  "  Scribitur  exercitum  visum  fuisse 

The  French  army  consisted  of  nostra  tempestate  nullum  unquam 

3,G00  gens  d'armes,  20,000  French  nitidiorem.     Et  qui  '  futuri  sunt 

infantry,  and  8,000  Swiss,  without  calamitatis    participes,  Carolum 

including  the  regular  camp  follow  aciesque  illius  ac  pedilum  turmas 

ers.    (Sismondi,  Republiques  Ital-  laudibus  extollunt ;  sed  Italorum 

iennes,  torn.  xii.  p.  132.)  impensa  instructas."  (Opus  Epist., 

The  splendor   and  novelty  of  epist.  143.)    He  concludes  anoth- 

their  appearance  excited  a  degree  er  with    this  remarkable  predic- 

of  admiration,  which  disarmed  in  tion  ;  11  Perimeris,  Galle,  ex  ma- 

Borne  measure  the  terror  of  the  jori  parte,  nec  in  patriam  redibis. 

Italians.     Peter   Martyr,    whose  Jacebis  insepultus  ;   sed  tua  non 

distance  from  the  theatre  of  action  restituetur  strages,  Italia."  Epist. 

enabled  him  to  contemplate  more  123. 
calmly  the  operation  of  events,  be- 


278 


ITALIAN  WARS. 


part     to  remark,  that  his  conduct  throughout  was  equal- 

 J       ly  defective  in  principle  and  in  sound  policy.  He 

alienated  his  allies  by  the  most  signal  acts  of  perfi- 
dy, seizing  their  fortresses  for  himself,  and  entering 
their  capitals  with  all  the  vaunt  and  insolent  port 
of  a  conqueror.  On  his  approach  to  Rome,  the 
pope  and  the  cardinals  took  refuge  in  the  castle  of 
14  94.  St.  Angelo,  and  on  the  31st  of  December,  Charles 
defiled  into  the  city  at  the  head  of  his  victorious 
chivalry  ;  if  victorious  they  could  be  called,  when, 
as  an  Italian  historian  remarks,  they  had  scarcely 
broken  a  lance,  or  spread  a  lent,  in  the  whole  of 
their  progress. 30 
italic  The  Italians  were  panic-struck  at  the  aspect  of 

'aCtiCS-  .l<y  r  -  _  . 

troops  so  different  from  their  own,  and  so  superior 
to  them  in  organization,  science,  and  military 
equipment ;  and  still  more  in  a  remorseless  ferocity 
of  temper,  which  had  rarely  been  witnessed  in 
their  own  feuds.  Warfare  was  conducted  on  pecu- 
liar principles  in  Italy,  adapted  to  the  character  and 
circumstances  of  the  people.  The  business  of 
fighting,  in  her  thriving  communities,  instead  of 
forming  part  of  the  regular  profession  of  a  gentle- 
man, as  in  other  countries  at  this  period,  was 
intrusted  to  the  hands  of  a  few  soldiers  of  fortune, 
condottieri,  as  they  were  called,  who  hired  them- 
selves out,  with  the  forces  under  their  command, 
consisting  exclusively  of  heavy-armed  cavalry,  to 

30  Guicciardini,  Istoria,  torn.  i.  di  Napoli,  torn,  iii.  lib.  29,  introd. 

lib.  1,  p.  71. —  Scipione  Ammi-  —  Comines,  Memoires,  liv.  7,  chap, 

rato,  Istorie  Florentine,  (Firenze,  17.  —  Oviedo,  Quincuagenaa,  MS., 

1647,)  p.  205.  —  Giannone,  Istoria  bat.  1,  quinc.  3,  dial.  43. 


EXPEDITION  OF  CHARLES  VIII. 


279 


whatever  state  would  pay  them  best.  These  forees  ciiaftkr 
constituted  the  capital,  as  it.  were,  of  the  military  — 
chief,  whose  obvious  interest  it  was  to  economize 
as  far  as  possible  all  unnecessary  expenditure  of  his 
resources.  Hence,  the  science  of  defence  was 
almost  exclusively  studied.  The  object  seemed  to 
be,  not  so  much  the  annoyance  of  the  enemy,  as 
self-preservation.  The  common  interests  of  the 
condottieri  being  paramount  to  every  obligation  to- 
wards the  state  which  they  served,  they  easily  came 
to  an  understanding  with  one  another  to  spare  their 
troops  as  much  as  possible  ;  until  at  length  battles 
were  fought  with  little  more  personal  hazard  than 
would  be  incurred  in  an  ordinary  tourney.  The 
man-at-arms  was  riveted  into  plates  of  steel  of 
sufficient  thickness  to  turn  a  musket-ball.  The 
ease  of  the  soldier  was  so  far  consulted,  that  the 
artillery,  in  a  siege,  was  not  allowed  to  be  fired  on 
either  side  from  sunset  to  sunrise,  for  fear  of  dis- 
turbing his  repose.  Prisoners  were  made  for  the 
sake  of  their  ransom,  and  but  little  blood  was 
spilled  in  an  action.  Machiavelli  records  two  en- 
gagements, at  Anghiari  and  Castracaro,  among  the 
most  noted  of  the  time  for  their  important  conse- 
quences. The  one  lasted  four  hours,  and  the  other 
half  a  day.  The  reader  is  hurried  along  through 
all  the  bustle  of  a  well-contested  fight,  in  the 
course  of  which  the  field  is  won  and  lost  several 
times  ;  but,  w7hen  he  comes  to  the  close,  and  looks 
for  the  list  of  killed  and  wounded,  he  finds  to  his 
surprise  not  a  single  man  slain,  in  the  first  of  these 
actions ;  and  in  the  second,  only  one,  who,  having 


280 


ITALIAN  WARS. 


pakt  tumbled  from  his  horse,  and  being  unable  to  rise, 
from  the  weight  of  his  armour,  was  suffocated  in 
the  mud  !  Thus  war  became  disarmed  of  its  ter- 
rors. Courage  was  no  longer  essential  in  a  soldier  ; 
and  the  Italian,  made  effeminate,  if  not  timid,  was 
incapable  of  encountering  the  adventurous  daring 
and  severe  discipline  of  the  northern  warrior. 31 
The  Swiss        The  astonishing  success  of  the  French  was  still 

mtiwitry.  ° 

more  imputable  to  the  free  use  and  admirable  or- 
ganization of  their  infantry,  whose  strength  lay  in 
the  Swiss  mercenaries.  Machiavelli  ascribes  the 
misfortunes  of  his  nation  chieflv  to  its  exclusive 
reliance  on  cavalry.32  This  service,  during  the 
whole  of  the  middle  ages,  was  considered  among 
the  European  nations  the  most  important;  the  horse 
being  styled  by  way  of  eminence  u  the  battle." 
The  memorable  conflict  of  Charles  the  Bold  with 
the  Swiss  mountaineers,  however,  in  which  the 
latter  broke  in  pieces  the  celebrated  Burgundian 
ordonnance,  constituting  the  finest  body  of  chivalry 
of  the  age,  demonstrated  the  capacity  of  infantry ; 
and  the  Italian  wars,  in  which  we  are  now  engaged, 
at  length  fully  reestablished  its  ancient  superiority. 

The  Swiss  were  formed  into  battalions  varying 
from  three  to  eight  thousand  men  each.  They 
wore  little  defensive  armour,  and  their  principal 
weapon  was  the  pike,  eighteen  feet  long.  Formed 
into  these  solid  battalions,  which,  bristling  with 
spears  all  around,  received  the  technical  appellation 

31  Du  Bos,  Histoire  de  la  Ligue  Deninn,  Rivoluzioni  d'  Italia,  lib 

faite  a  Cambray,  (Paris,  1728),  18,  cap.  3. 

torn.  i.  dissert,  prelim.  —  Machia-  32  Arte  della  Guerra,  lib  2. 

velli,  Istorie  Florentine,  lib.  5.  —  f 


EXPEDITION  OF  CHARLES  Vlll 


281 


of  the  hedgehog,  they  presented  an  invulnerable  chapter 

front  on  every  quarter.    In  the  level  field,  with  free   

scope  allowed  for  action,  they  bore  down  all  oppo- 
sition, and  received  unshaken  the  most  desperate 
charges  of  the  steel-clad  cavalry  on  their  terrible 
array  of  pikes.  They  were  too  unwieldy,  however, 
for  rapid  or  complicated  manoeuvres  ;  they  were 
easily  disconcerted  by  any  unforeseen  impediment, 
or  irregularity  of  the  ground;  and  the  event  proved, 
that  the  Spanish  foot,  armed  with  its  short  swords 
and  bucklers,  by  breaking  in  under  the  long  pikes 
of  its  enemy,  could  succeed  in  bringing  him  to  close 
action,  where  his  formidable  weapon  was  of  no 
avail.  It  was  repeating  the  ancient  lesson  of  the 
Roman  legion  and  the  Macedonian  phalanx.33 

In  artillery,  the  French  were  at  this  time  in  ad-  French  ant. 

J  lery. 

vance  of  the  Italians,  perhaps  of  every  nation  in 
Europe.  The  Italians,  indeed,  were  so  exceedingly 
defective  in  this  department,  that  their  best  field- 
pieces  consisted  of  small  copper  tubes,  covered  with 
wood  and  hides.  They  were  mounted  on  unwieldy 
carriages  drawn  by  oxen,  and  followed  by  cars  or 
wagons  loaded  with  stone  balls.  These  guns  were 
worked  so  awkwardly,  that  the  besieged,  says  Guic- 
ciardini,  had  time  between  the  discharges  to  re- 
pair the  mischief  inflicted  by  them.     From  these 

33  Machiavelli,  Arte  deila  Guer-  defects  imputed  to  the  Swiss  heris- 

ra,  lib.  3.  —  Du  Bos,  Ligue  de  Cam-  son,  by  modern  European  writers, 

bray,  torn.  i.  dis.  prelim.  —  Giovio,  (See  lib.  17,  sec.  25  et  seq.)    It  is 

Hist,  sui  Temporis,  lib.  2,  p.  41.  singular,  that  these  exploded  arms 

Polybius,  in  his  minute  account  and  tactics  should  be  revived,  after 

of  this  celebrated  military  institu-  the  lapse  of  nearly  seventeen  cen- 

tion  of  the  Greeks,  has  recapitu-  turies,  to  be  foiled  again  in  the 

lated  nearly  all  the  advantages  and  same  manner  as  before 


VOL.  II. 


3G 


ITALIAN  WARS. 


circumstances,  artillery  was  held  in  so  little  repute, 
that  some  of  the  most  competent  Italian  writers 
thought  it  might  be  dispensed  with  altogether  in 
field  engagements.34 

The  French,  on  the  other  hand,  were  provided 
with  a  beautiful  train  of  ordnance,  consisting  of 
bronze  cannon  about  eight  feet  in  length,  and 
many  smaller  pieces.35  They  w  ere  lightly  mounted, 
drawn  by  horses,  and  easily  kept  pace  with  the 
rapid  movements  of  the  army.  They  discharged 
iron  balls,  and  were  served  with  admirable  skill, 
intimidating  their  enemies  by  the  rapidity  and  ac- 
curacy of  their  fire,  and  easily  demolishing  their 
fortifications,  which,  before  this  invasion,  were  con- 
structed with  little  strength  or  science.36 

The  rapid  successes  of  the  French  spread  con- 
sternation among  the  Italian  states,  who  now  for 
the  first  time  seemed  to  feel  the  existence  of  a 
common  interest,  and  the  necessity  of  efficient  con- 
cert. Ferdinand  was  active  in  promoting  these 
dispositions,  through  his  ministers,  Garcilasso  de  la 
Vega  and  Alonso  de  Silva.  The  latter  had  quitted 
the  French  court  on  its  entrance  into  Italy,  and 
withdrawn  to  Genoa.  From  this  point  he  opened 
a  correspondence  with  Lodovico  Sforza,  who  now 
began  to  understand,  that  he  had  brought  a  terrible 
engine  into  play,  the  movements  of  which,  however 

34  Guicciardini,  Istoria,  torn.  i.  French  gave  to  their  pieces,  as  a 

pp.  45,  46.  —  Machiavelli,  Arte  novelty  at  that  time  in  Italy.  Is- 

della  Guerra,  lib.  3.  —  Du  Bos,  toria,  pp.  45,  46. 

Lipue  de  Cambray,  ubi  supra.  36  Giovio,  Hist,  sui  Temporis, 

»  Guicciardini  speaks  of  the  lib.  2,  p.  42.  —  Machiavelli,  Arte 

name  of  "  cannon,"  which  the  della  Guerra,  lib.  7. 


KXPEDITIOM   OF  CHARLES  VIII 


28S 


mischievous  to  himself,  were  beyond  his  strength  to  chapter 
control.  Silva  endeavoured  to  inflame  still  further  — - — - 
his  jealousy  of  the  French,  who  had  already  given 
him  many  serious  causes  of  disgust ;  and,  in  order 
to  detach  him  more  effectually  from  Charles's  inter- 
ests, encouraged  him  with  the  hopes  of  forming  a 
matrimonial  alliance  for  his  son  with  one  of  the  in- 
fantas of  Spain.  At  the  same  time,  he  used  everj 
effort  to  bring  about  a  cooperation  between  the  duke 
and  the  republic  of  Venice,  thus  opening  the  way  to 
the  celebrated  league  which  was  concluded  in  the 
following  year.37 

The  Roman  pomiff  had  lost  no  time,  after  the 
appearance  of  the  French  army  in  Italy,  in  press- 
ing the  Spanish  court  to  fulfil  its  engagements. 
He  endeavoured  to  propitiate  the  good-will  of  the 
sovereigns  by  several  important  concessions.  He 
granted  to  them  and  their  successors  the  tercias,  or 
two  ninths  of  the  tithes,  throughout  the  dominions 
of  Castile  ;  an  impost  still  forming  part  of  the  reg- 
ular revenue  of  the  crown.38  He  caused  bulls  of 
crusade  to  be  promulgated  throughout  Spain,  grant- 
ing at  the  same  time  a  tenth  of  the  ecclesiastical 
rents,  with  the  understanding  that  the  proceeds 


37  Zurita,  Hist,  del  Rey  Her- 
nando, lib.  1,  cap.  35.  —  Alonso 
de  Silva  acquitted  himself  to  the 
entire  satisfaction  of  the  sovereigns, 
in  his  difficult  mission.  He  was 
subsequently  sent  on  various  others 
to  the  different  Italian  courts,  and 
uniformly  sustained  his  reputation 
for  ability  and  prudence.  He  did 
not  live  to  be  old.  Oviedo,  Quin- 
cuagenas,  MS.,  bat.  1,  quinc.  4. 


38  Mariana,  Hist,  de  Espafia, 
torn.  ii.  lib.  26,  cap.  6.  —  Sala7a.r 
de  Mendoza,  Monarquia,  lib  3. 
cap.  14. 

This  branch  of  the  revenue  yields 
at  the  present  day,  according  to 
Laborde,  about  6,000,000  reals,  or 
1,500,000  francs.  Itineraire,  torn, 
vi  p.  51. 


284 


ITALIAN  WARS. 


i  art     should  be  devoted  to  the  proteetion  of  the  Holy 
-      Sec.    Towards  the  close  of  this  year,  1494,  or  the 
confcreuU    beginning  of  the  following,  he  conferred  the  title 

title  of  ft  &  D 

catholic  0f  Catholic  on  the  Spanish  sovereigns,  in  consider- 
ation, as  is  stated,  of  their  eminent  virtues,  their 
zeal  in  defence  of  the  true  faith  and  the  apostolic 
see,  their  reformation  of  conventual  discipline,  their 
subjugation  of  the  Moors  of  Granada,  and  the  puri- 
fication of  their  dominions  from  the  Jewish  her- 
esy. This  orthodox  title,  which  still  continues  to 
be  the  jewel  most  prized  in  the  Spanish  crown,  has 
been  appropriated  in  a  peculiar  manner  to  Ferdi- 
nand and  Isabella,  who  are  universally  recognised 
in  history  as  Los  Reyes  Catulicos.™ 
Navai  prep  Ferdinand  was  too  sensible  of  the  peril,  to  which 
spam.  t]ie  OCCUpation  of  Naples  by  the  French  would  ex- 
pose his  own  interests,  to  require  any  stimulant  to 
action  from  the  Roman  pontiff.    Naval  preparations 

:w  Zurita,  Abarca,    and   otber  new  in  the  royal  house  of  Castile, 

Spanish  historians,  fix  the  date  of  nor  indeed   of  Aragon  ;  having 

Alexander's  grant  at  the  close  of  been  given  to  the  Asturian  prince 

1496.    (Hist,  del  Rey  Hernando,  Alfonso  I.  about  the  middle  of  the 

lib.  2,  cap.  40.  —  Reyes  de  Ara-  eighth,  and  to  Pedro  II.,  of  Aragon, 

gon,    rey  30,  cap.  9.)     Martyr  at  the  beginning  of  the  thirteenth 

notices  it  with  great  particularity  century. 

as  already  conferred,  in  a  letter  of  I  will  remark,  in  conclusion, 
February,  1495.  (Opus  Epist.,  that,  although  the  phrase  Los  Reyes 
epist.  157.)  The  pope,  according  Catulicos,  as  applied  to  a  female 
to  Comines,  designed  to  compli-  equally  with  a  male,  would  have 
merit  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  for  a  whimsical  appearance  literally 
their  conquest  of  Granada,  by  translated  into  English,  it  is  per- 
transferring  to  them  the  title  of  fectly  consonant  to  the  Spanish  id- 
Most  Christian,  hitherto  enjoyed  iom,  which  requires  that  all  words, 
by  the  kings  of  France.  He  had  having  reference  to  both  a  mascu- 
everf  gone  so  far  as  to  address  line  and  a  feminine  noun,  should  be 
them  thus  in  more  than  one  of  his  expressed  in  the  former  gender, 
briefs.  This  produced  a  remon-  So  also  in  the  ancient  languages  ; 
strance  from  a  number  of  the  car-  Ufjt.iv  rv^dv>oi,  says  Queen  Hecuba  ; 
dinals  ;  which  led  him  to  substi-  (Euripides,  TPflAA.  v.  476.)  But 
tute  the  title  of  Most  Catholic,  it  is  clearly  incorrect  to  render  Los 
The  epithet  of  Catholic  was  not  Reyes  Catolicos,  as  usually  done  by 


EXPEDITION  OF  CHARLES  VIII. 


285 


had  been  going  forward  during  the  summer,  in  the  chapter 

ports  of  Galieia  and  Guipuscoa.    A  considerable  — -  

armament  was  made  ready  for  sea  by  the  latter  part 
of  December,  at  Alicant,  and  placed  under  the 
command  of  Galceran  de  Requesens,  count  of  Tre- 
vento.  The  land  forces  were  intrusted  to  Gonsal- 
vo  de  Cordova,  better  known  in  history  as  the 
Great  Captain.  Instructions  were  at  the  same 
time  sent  to  the  viceroy  of  Sicily,  to  provide  for  the 
security  of  that  island,  and  to  hold  himself  in  read- 
iness to  act  in  concert  with  the  Spanish  fleet. 40 

Ferdinand,  however,  determined  to   send  one  second  mia- 

'  '  sion  to 

more  embassy  to  Charles  the  Eighth,  before  coming  viiT.les 
to  an  open  rupture  with  him.  He  selected  for  this 
mission  Juan  de  Albion  and  Antonio  de  Fonseca, 
brother  of  the  bishop  of  that  name,  whom  we  have 
already  noticed  as  superintendent  of  the  Indian  de- 
partment. The  two  envoys  reached  Rome,  Janua- 
ry 28th,  1495,  the  same  day  on  which  Charles  set 
out  on  his  march  for  Naples.  They  followed  the 
army,  and  on  arriving  at  Veletri,  about  twenty  miles 
from  the  capital,  were  admitted  to  an  audience  by 
the  monarch,  who  received  them  in  the  presence  of 
his  officers.  The  ambassadors  freely  enumerated 
the  various  causes  of  complaint  entertained  by  their 
master  against  the  French  king ;  the  insult  offered 
to  him  in  the  person  of  his  minister  x41onsc  de  Sil- 
va;  the  contumelious  treatment  of  the  pope,  and 
forcible  occupation  of  the  fortresses  and  estates  of 

English  writers  by  the correspond-       40  Carbajal,  Anales,  MS.,  a.^o 
ing  ienn  of  kk  Catholic  kings.''  1495. 


0 


286 


ITALIAN  WARS. 


part  the  church  ;  and  final])'  the  enterprise  against  Na- 
— ' —  pies,  the  claims  to  which  as  a  papal  fief,  could  oi" 
right  be  determined  in  no  other  way  than  by  the 
arbitration  of  the  pontiff  himself.  Should  King 
Charles  consent  to  accept  this  arbitration,  they  ten- 
dered the  good  offices  of  their  master  as  mediator 
between  the  parties  ;  should  he  decline  it,  howev- 
er, the  king  of  Spain  stood  absolved  from  all  fur- 
ther obligations  of  amity  with  him,  by  the  terms  of 
the  treaty  of  Barcelona,  which  expressly  recognised 
his  right  to  interfere  in  defence  of  the  church.41 

Charles,  who  could  not  dissemble  his  indignation 
during  this  discourse,  retorted  with  great  acrimony, 
when  it  was  concluded,  on  the  conduct  of  Ferdi- 
nand, which  he  stigmatized  as  perfidious,  accusing 
him,  at  the  same  time,  of  a  deliberate  design  to 
circumvent  him,  by  introducing  into  their  treaty 
the  clause  respecting  the  pope.  As  to  the  expe- 
dition against  Naples,  he  had  now  gone  too  far  to 
recede  ;  and  it  would  be  soon  enough  to  canvass 
the  question  of  right,  when  he  had  got  possession 
of  it.  His  courtiers,  at  the  same  time,  with  the 
impetuosity  of  their  nation,  heightened  by  the  inso- 
lence of  success,  told  the  envoys,  that  they  knew 
well  enough  how  to  defend  their  rights  with  their 
arms,  and  that  King  Ferdinand  would  find  the 
French  chivalry  enemies  of  quite  another  sort  from 
the  holiday  tilters  of  Granada. 

These  taunts  led  to  mutual  recrimination,  until 

41  Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catolicos,    192-  194.  —  Garibay,  Compendio, 
MS.,  cap.  138.  —  Sisrnondi,  Re-    lib.  19,  cap.  4. 
publicities  Italiennes,  torn.  xii.  pp. 


EXPEDITION  OF  CHARLES  VIII.  287 

at  length  Fonseca,  though  naturally  a  sedate  person,  chapter 

was  so  far  transported  with  anger,  that  he  ex-   

claimed,  "  The  issue  then  must  be  left  to  God, —  duct  of  th* 

envoys. 

arms  must  decide  it;"  and,  producing  the  original 
treaty,  bearing  the  signatures  of  the  two  monarchs, 
he  tore  it  in  pieces  before  the  eyes  of  Charles  and 
his  court.  At  the  same  time  he  commanded  two 
Spanish  knights  who  served  in  the  French  army 
to  withdraw  from  it,  under  pain  of  incurring  the 
penalties  of  treason.  The  French  cavaliers  were 
so  much  incensed  by  this  audacious  action,  that 
they  would  have  seized  the  envoys,  and,  in  all 
probability,  offered  violence  to  their  persons,  but 
for  Charles's  interposition,  who  with  more  coolness 
caused  them  to  be  conducted  from  his  presence, 
and  sent  back  under  a  safe  escort  to  Rome.  Such 
are  the  circumstances  reported  by  the  French  and 
Italian  writers  of  this  remarkable  interview.  They 
were  not  aware  that  the  dramatic  exhibition,  as 
far  as  the  ambassadors  were  concerned,  was  all 
previously  concerted  before  their  departure  from 
Spain. 42 

Charles  pressed  forward  on  his  march  without  -rue  mm  of 

in  i  Nnples  flies 

further  delay.    Alfonso  the  Second,  losing  his  con-  ^a.a\y. 


42  Oviedo,  Quincuagenas,  MS., 
bat.  1,  quinc.  3,  dial.  43.  —  Zurita, 
Hist,  del  Rey  Hernando,  lib.  1, 
cap.  43.  —  Bernaldez,  Reyes  Ca- 
tolicos,  MS.,  cap.  138. — Giovio, 
Hist,  sui  Temporis,  lib.  2,  p.  46.  — 
Lanuza,  Historias,  torn,  i.  lib.  1, 
cap.  6. 

This  appears  from  a  letter  of 
Martyr's,  dated  three  months  be- 
fore the  interview  ;  in  which  he 
says,    "Antonius    Fonseca,  vir 


equestris  ordinis,  et  armis  clarus, 
destinatus  est  orator,  qui  eum  mo- 
neat,  ne,  priusquam  de  jure  inter 
ipsum  et  Alfonsum  regem  Neapo- 
litanum  decernatur,  ulterius  proce- 
dat.  Fert  in  mandatis  Antonius 
Fonseca,  ut  Carolo  capitulum  id 
sonans  ostendat,  anteque  ipsius 
oculos  (si  detrectaverit)  pacti  vete- 
ris  chirographum  laceret,  atque  in- 
dicat  inimicitias."  Opus  Epist., 
epist.  144. 


ITALIAN  WARS. 

part  fidence  and  martial  courage,  the  only  virtues  that. 
,  he  possessed,  at  the  crisis  when  they  were  most 

demanded,  had  precipitately  abandoned  his  king- 
dom while  the  French  were  at  Rome,  and  taken 
refuge  in  Sicily,  where  he  formally  abdicated  the 
crown  in  favor  of  his  son,  Ferdinand  the  Second. 
This  prince,  then  twenty-five  years  of  age,  whose 
amiable  manners  were  rendered  still  more  attrac- 
tive by  contrast  with  the  ferocious  temper  of  his 
father,  was  possessed  of  talent  and  energy  compe- 
tent to  the  present  emergency,  had  he  been  sus- 
tained by  his  subjects.  But  the  latter,  besides 
being  struck  with  the  same  panic  which  had  par- 
alyzed the  other  people  of  Italy,  had  too  little  in- 
terest in  the  government  to  be  willing  to  hazard 
much  in  its  defence.  A  change  of  dynasty  was 
only  a  change  of  masters,  by  which  they  had  little 
either  to  gain  or  to  lose.  Though  favorably  in- 
clined to  Ferdinand,  they  refused  to  stand  by  him 
in  his  perilous  extremity.  They  gave  way  in  every 
direction,  as  the  French  advanced,  rendering  hope- 
less every  attempt  of  their  spirited  young  monarch 
to  rally  them,  till  at  length  no  alternative  was  left, 
but  to  abandon  his  dominions  to  the  enemy,  with- 
out striking  a  blow  in  their  defence.  He  withdrew 
to  the  neighbouring  island  of  Ischia,  whence  he 
soon  after  passed  into  Sicily,  and  occupied  himself 
there  in  collecting  the  fragments  of  his  party,  until 
the  time  should  arrive  for  more  decisive  action.43 

43  Comines,  Memoires,  liv.  7,  aiirato,  Istorie  Florentine,  torn,  iii 

chap.  16.  — Villeneuve,  Memoires,  lib.  26.  — Summonte,  Hist,  di  N%- 

apud  Petitot,  Collection  des  Me  poli,  torn.  iii.  lib  B,  cap.  1,  2. 
moires,  torn.  xii.  p.  260.  —  Am- 


EXPEDITION  OF  CHARLES  VIII. 


289 


Charles  the  Eighth  made  his  entrance  into  Na-  chapter 

.  i 
pies  at  the  head  of  his  legions,  February  22d,  ~ — .  . 

1495,  having  traversed  this  whole  extent  of  hostile  enter  Napie* 
territory  in  less  time  than  would  be  occupied  by  a 
fashionable  tourist  of  the  present  day.  The  object 
of  his  expedition  was  now  achieved.  He  seemed 
to  have  reached  the  consummation  of  his  wishes  ; 
and,  although  he  assumed  the  titles  of  King  of  Sici- 
ly and  of  Jerusalem,  and  affected  the  state  and 
authority  of  Emperor,  he  took  no  measures  for 
prosecuting  his  chimerical  enterprise  further.  He 
even  neglected  to  provide  for  the  security  of  his 
present  conquest ;  and,  without  bestowing  a  thought 
on  the  government  of  his  new  dominions,  resigned 
himself  to  the  licentious  and  effeminate  pleasures 
so  congenial  with  the  soft  voluptuousness  of  the 
climate,  and  his  own  character. 44 

While  Charles  was  thus  wasting  his  time  and  £]™er^lto'" 
resources  in  frivolous  amusements,  a  dark  storm  thcm- 
was  gathering  in  the  north.  There  was  not  a  state 
through  which  he  had  passed,  however  friendly  to 
his  cause,  which  had  not  complaints  to  make  of  his 
insolence,  his  breach  of  faith,  his  infringement  of 
their  rights,  and  his  exorbitant  exactions.  His 
impolitic  treatment  of  Sforza  had  long  since  alien- 
ated that  wily  and  restless  politician,  and  raised 
suspicions  in  his  mind  of  Charles's  designs  against 
his  own  duchy  of  Milan.  The  ernperor  elect, 
Maximilian,  whom  the  French  king  thought  to 

Giovio,  Hist,  siri  Temporis,  Andr6  de  la  Vifrne,  Histoire  de 
lib.  2,  p.  55. —  Giannone,  Istoria  Charles  VIII.  (Paris,  101?,)  p. 
di  Napoli,  lib.  29,  cap.  1,  2.  —  201. 


VOL  II. 


37 


290 


ITALIAN  WARS. 


part  have  bound  to  his  interests  by  the  treaty  of  Sen! is, 
— — —  took  umbrage  at  his  assumption  of  the  imperial  title 
and  dignity.  The  Spanish  ambassadors,  Garcilasso 
de  la  Vega,  and  his  brother,  Lorenzo  Suarez,  the 
latter  of  whom  resided  at  Venice,  were  indefatiga- 
ble in  stimulating  the  spirit  of  discontent.  Suarez, 
in  particular,  used  every  effort  to  secure  the  cooper- 
ation of  Venice,  representing  to  the  government,  in 
the  most  urgent  terms,  the  necessity  of  general 
concert  and  instant  action  among  the  great  powers 
of  Italy,  if  they  would  preserve  their  own  liber- 
ties.45 

vS? of  Venice,  from  its  remote  position,  seemed  to  afford 
the  best  point  for  coolly  contemplating  the  general 
interests  of  Italy.  Envoys  of  the  different  Euro- 
pean powers  were  assembled  there,  as  if  by  com- 
mon consent,  with  the  view  of  concerting  some 
scheme  of  operation  for  their  mutual  good.  The 
conferences  were  conducted  by  night,  and  with 
such  secrecy  as  to  elude  for  some  time  the  vigilant 
eye  of  Comines,  the  sagacious  minister  of  Charles, 
then  resident  at  the  capital.  The  result  was  the 
celebrated  league  of  Venice.  It  was  signed  the 
last  day  of  March,  1495,  on  the  part  of  Spain, 
Austria,  Rome,  Milan,  and  the  Venetian  republic. 
The  ostensible  object  of  the  treaty,  which  was  to 
last  twenty-five  years,  was  the  preservation  of  the 
estates  and  rights  of  the  confederates,  especially  of 

45  Giovio,  Hist,  sui  Temporis,  120. — Zurita,  Hist,  del  Rey  Her- 

lib.  2,  p.  56.  —  Guicciardini,  Isto-  nando,  lib.  2,  chap.  3,  5.  —  Co- 

ria,  torn.  i.  pp.  86,  87.—  Bembo,  mines,  Memoires,  liv.  7,  chap.  ID 
Istoria  Viniziana,  torn.  i.  lib.  2,  p. 


EXPEDITION  OF  CHARLES  VIII. 


291 


the  Roman  see.    A  large  force,  amounting  in  all  to  chapteb 

thirty-four  thousand  horse  and  twenty  thousand  .  .  . 

foot,  was  to  be  assessed  in  stipulated  proportions 
on  each  of  the  contracting  parties.  The  secret 
articles  of  the  treaty,  however,  went  much  further, 
providing  a  formidable  plan  of  offensive  operations. 
It  was  agreed  in  these,  that  King  Ferdinand  should 
employ  the  Spanish  armament,  now  arrived  in  Sici- 
ly, in  reestablishing  his  kinsman  on  the  throne  of 
Naples  ;  that  a  Venetian  fleet,  of  forty  galleys, 
should  attack  the  French  positions  on  the  Neapoli- 
tan coasts  ;  that  the  duke  of  Milan  should  expel 
the  French  from  Asti,  and  blockade  the  passes  of 
the  Alps,  so  as  to  intercept  the  passage  of  further 
reinforcements ;  and  that  the  emperor  and  the  king 
of  Spain  should  invade  the  French  frontiers,  and 
their  expenses  be  defrayed  b)  subsidies  from  the 
allies. 46  Such  were  the  terms  of  this  treaty,  which 
may  be  regarded  as  forming  an  era  in  modern  po- 
litical history,  since  it  exhibits  the  first  example 
of  those  extensive  combinations  among  European 
princes,  for  mutual  defence,  which  afterwards  be- 
came so  frequent.  It  shared  the  fate  of  many 
other  coalitions,  where  the  name  and  authority  of 
the  whole  have  been  made  subservient  to  the  inter- 
ests of  some  one  of  the  parties,  more  powerful,  or 
more  cunning,  than  the  rest. 

The  intelligence   of  the  new   treaty  diffused 
general  joy  throughout  Italy.    In  Venice,  in  par- 

Guicciardini,  Istoria,  torn.  i.  122,123. —  Daru,  Hist,  de  Venise, 

lib.  2,  p.   88.  —  Cornines,  Me-  torn.  iii.  pp.  255,  256. — Zurita, 

•  moires,  liv.  7,  chap.  20.  —  Bembo,  Hist,  del  Rey  Hernando,  lib.  2, 

Istoria  Viniziana,  torn.  i.  lib.  2,  pp.  cap,  5. 


29 1 


ITALIAN  WARS. 


part  ticular,  it  was  greeted  with  fetes,  illuminations,  and 
— — .  the  most  emphatic  public  rejoicing,  in  the  very 
eyes  of  the  French  minister,  who  was  compelled 
to  witness  this  unequivocal  testimony  of  the  detes- 
tation in  which  his  countrymen  were  held.47  The 
tidings  fell  heavily  on  the  ears  of  the  French  in 
Naples.  It  dispelled  the  dream  of  idle  dissipation 
in  which  they  were  dissolved.  They  felt  little 
concern,  indeed,  on  the  score  of  their  Italian  ene- 
mies, whom  their  easy  victories  taught  them  to 

47  Comines,  Memoires,  p.  90. —  so  much  astounded  by  the  intelli- 

Comines  takes  great  credit  to  him-  gence,  that  he  was  obliged  to  ask 

self  for  his  perspicacity  in  detecting  the  secretary  of  the  senate,  who 

the  secret  negotiations  carried  on  accompanied  him  home,  the  par- 

at  Venice  against  his  master.    Ac-  ticulars  of  what  the  doge  had  said, 

cording  to  Bembo,  however,  the  as  his  ideas  were  so  confused  at 

aflfair  was  managed  witli  such  ^ro-  the  time,  that  lie  had  not  perfectly 

found  caution,  as  to  escape  his-  no-  comprehended  it.    Istoria  Vinizia- 

tice  until  it  was  officially  anno  need  na,  lib.  2,  pp.  128,  129. 
by  the  doge  himself;  when  1  e  was 


Z'iritft's  life  The  principal  light,  by  which  we 
and  writings.  are  lQ  be  guit]eti  through  the  re- 
mainder of  this  history,  is  the 
Aragonese  annalist,  Zurita,  whose 
great  work,  although  less  known 
abroad,  than  those  of  some  more 
recent  Castilian  writers,  sustains  a 
reputation  at  home,  unsurpassed  by 
any  other,  in  the  great,  substantial 
qualities  of  an  historian.  The  no- 
tice of  his  life  and  writings  has 
been  swelled  into  a  bulky  quarto 
by  Dr.  Diego  Dormer,  in  a  work 
entitled,  "  Progressos  de  la  II isto- 
ria en  el  Reyno  de  Aragon.  Zara- 
goza,  1G80;"  from  which  I  extract 
a  few  particulars. 

Ceronimo  Zurita,  descended  from 
an  ancient  and  noble  family,  was 
born  at  Saragossa,  December  4th, 
1512.  He  was  matriculated  at  an 
early  age  in  the  university  of  Al- 
cala.  He  there  made  extraordinary 


proficiency,  under  the  immediate  in- 
struction of  the  learned  Nuilez  de 
Guzman,  commonly  called  El  Pin- 
ciano.  He  became  familiar  with 
the  ancient,  and  a  variety  of  mod- 
ern tongues,  and  attracted  particu- 
lar attention  by  tne  purity  and  ele- 
gance of  his  Latinity.  His  personal 
merits,  and  his  father's  influence, 
recommended  him,  soon  after  quit- 
ting the  university,  to  the  notice  of 
the  emperor  Charles  V.  He  was 
consulted  and  employed  in  affaiis 
of  public  importance,  and  subse- 
quently raised  to  several  posts  of 
honor,  attesting  the  entire  confi- 
dence reposed  in  his  integrity  and 
abilities.  His  most  honorable  ap- 
pointment, however,  was  that  of 
national  historiographer. 

In  1547,  an  act  passed  the  cortea 
general  of  Aragon,  providing  for 
the  office  of  national  chronicler, 


EXPEDITION  OF  CHARLES  VIII. 


293 


regard  with  the  same  insolent  contempt,  that  the 
paladins  of  romance  are  made  to  feel  for  the  un- 
knightly  rabble,  myriads  of  whom  they  could  over- 
turn with  a  single  lance.  But  they  felt  serious 
alarm  as  they  beheld  the  storm  of  war  gathering 
from  other  quarters,  —  from  Spain  and  Germany,  in 
defiance  of  the  treaties  by  which  they  had  hoped  to 
secure  them.  Charles  saw  the  necessity  of  instant 
action.    Two  courses  presented  themselves  ;  either 


with  a  fixed  salary,  whose  duty  it 
should  be  to  compile,  from  authen- 
tic sources,  a  faithful  history  of  the 
monarchy.  The  talents  and  emi- 
nent qualifications  of  Zurita  recom- 
mended him  to  this  post,  and  he 
was  raised  to  it  by  the  unanimous 
consent  of  the  legislature,  in  the 
following  year,  1548.  From  this 
time  he  conscientiously  devoted 
himself  to  the  execution  of  his 
great  task.  He  visited  every  part 
of  his  own  country,  as  well  as 
Sicily  and  Italy,  for  tlio  purpose  of 
collecting  materials.  The  public  ar- 
chives, and  every  accessible  source 
of  information,  were  freely  thrown 
open  to  his  inspection,  by  order  of 
the  government;  and  he  returned 
from  his  literary  pilgrimage  with 
a  large  accumulation  of  rare  and 
original  documents.  The  first  por- 
tion of  his  annals  was  published  at 
Saragossa,  in  two  volumes  folio, 
1562.  The  work  was  not  com- 
pleted until  nearly  twenty  years 
later,  and  the  last  two  volumes 
were  printed  under  his  own  eye  at 
Saragossa,  in  1580,  a  few  months 
only  before  his  death.  This  edition, 
being  one  of  those  used  in  the  pres- 
ent history,  is  in  large  folio,  fairly 
executed,  with  double  columns  on 
the  page,  in  the  fashion  of  most  of 
the  ancient  Spanish  historians.  The 
whole  work  was  again  published,  as 
before,  at  the  expense  of  the  state, 
in  1585,  by  his  son,  amended  and 
somewhat  enlarged,  from  the  man- 


uscripts left  by  his  father.  Bouter- 
wek  has  fallen  into  the  error  of 
Supposing}  that  no  edition  of  Zuri- 
ta's Annals  appeared  till  after  the 
reign  of  Philip  II.,  who  died  in 
151)2.  (Geschichle  der  Poesie  und 
Beredsamkeit,  band  iii.  p.  319.) 

No  incidents  worthy  of  note  seem 
to  have  broken  the  peaceful  tenor 
of  Zurita's  life ;  which  he  termi- 
nated at  Saragossa,  in  the  sixty- 
eighth  year  of  his  age,  in  the  mon- 
astery of  Santa  Engracia,  to  which 
he  had  retired  during  a  temporary 
residence  in  the  city,  to  superin- 
tend the  publication  of  his  Annals. 
His  rich  collection  of  books  and 
manuscripts  was  left  to  the  Car- 
thusian monastery  of  Aula  Dei; 
but,  from  accident  or  neglect,  the 
greater  part  have  long  since  per- 
ished. His  remains  were  interred 
in  the  convent  where  he  died,  and 
a  monument,  bearing  a  modest  in- 
scription, was  erected  over  them  by 
his  son. 

The  best  monument  of  Zurita, 
however,  is  his  Annals.  They  take 
up  the  history  of  Aragon  from  its 
first  rise  after  the  Arabic  conquest, 
and  continue  it  to  the  death  of  Fer- 
dinand the  Catholic.  The  reign 
of  this  prince,  as  possessing  the 
largest  interest  and  importance,  is 
expanded  into  two  volumes  folio ; 
beinir  one  third  of  the  whole  work. 

The  minuteness  of  Zurita's  in- 
vestigations has  laid  him  open  to 
the  charge  of  prolixity,  especially 


294 


ITALIAN  WARS. 


PART 
II. 


to  strengthen  himself  in  his  new  conquests,  and 
prepare  to  maintain  them  until  he  could  receive 
fresh  reinforcements  from  home,  or  to  abandon  them 
altogether  and  retreat  across  the  Alps,  before  the 
allies  could  muster  in  sufficient  strength  to  oppose 
him.  With  the  indiscretion  characteristic  of  his 
whole  enterprise,  he  embraced  a  middle  course,  and 
lost  the  advantages  which  would  have  resulted 
from  the  exclusive  adoption  of  either. 


in  the  earlier  and  less  important 
periods.  It  should  be  remembered, 
however,  that  his  wrork  was  to  be 
the  great  national  repository  of 
facts,  interesting  to  his  own  coun- 
trymen, but  which,  from  difficulty  of 
access  to  authentic  sources,  could 
never  before  be  fully  exhibited  to 
their  inspection.  But,  whatever  be 
thought  of  his  redundancy,  in  this 
or  the  subsequent  parts  of  his  nar- 
rative, it  must  be  admitted  that  he 
has  uniformly  and  emphatically  di- 
rected the  attention  of  the  reader 
to  the  topics  most  worthy  of  it ; 
sparing  no  pains  to  illustrate  the 
constitutional  antiquities  of  the 
country,  and  to  trace  the  gradual 
formation  of  her  liberal  polity,  in- 
stead of  wasting  his  strength  on 
mere  superficial  gossip,  like  most 
of  the  chroniclers  of  the  period. 

There  is  no  Spanish  historian 
less  swayed  by  party  or  religious 
prejudice,  or  by  the  feeling  of  na- 
tionality, which  is  so  apt  to  over- 
flow in  the  loyal  effusions  of  the 
Castilian  writers.  This  laudable 
temperance,  indeed,  has  brought 
on  him  the  rebuke  of  more  than 
one  of  his  patriotic  countrymen. 
There  is  a  sobriety  and  coolness  in 
his  estimate  of  historical  evidence, 
equally  removed  from  temerity  on 
the  one  hand,  and  credulity  on  the 
other  ;  in  short,  his  whole  manner 
is  that  of  a  man  conversant  with 


public  business,  and  free  from  tne 
closet  pedantry,  which  too  often 
characterizes  the  monkish  annalists. 
The  greater  part  of  his  life  was 
passed  under  the  reign  of  Charles 
V.,  when  the  spirit  of  the  nation 
was  not  yet  broken  by  arbitrary 
power,  nor  debased  by  the  melan- 
choly superstition  which  settled  on 
it  under  his  successor  ;  an  age,  in 
which  the  memory  of  ancient  liber- 
ty had  not  wholly  faded  away,  and 
when,  if  men  did  not  dare  express 
all  they  thought,  they  at  least 
thought  with  a  degree  of  indepen- 
dence, which  gave  a  masculine 
character  to  their  expression.  In 
this,  as  well  as  in  the  liberality  of 
his  religious  sentiments,  he  may  be 
compared  favorably  with  his  cele- 
brated countryman  Mariana,  who, 
educated  in  the  cloister,  and  at  a  pe 
riod  when  the  nation  was  schooled 
to  maxims  of  despotism,  exhibits 
few  glimpses  of  the  sound  criticism 
and  reflection,  which  are  to  be  found 
in  the  writings  of  his  Aragonese  ri- 
val. The  seductions  of  style,  how- 
ever, the  more  fastidious  selection 
of  incidents,  in  short,  the  superior 
graces  of  narration,  have  given  it 
wider  fame  to  the  former,  whose 
works  have  passed  into  most  of  the 
cultivated  languages  of  Europe, 
while  those  of  Zurita  remain,  m 
far  as  I  am  aware,  still  undisturbed 
in  the  vernacular. 


CHAPTER  II. 


ITALIAN  WARS.  —  RETREAT  OF  CHARLES  VIII.  —  CAMPAIGNS 
OF  GONSALVO  DE  CORDOVA.  —  FINAL  EXPULSION  OF  THE 
FRENCH 

1495  —  1496. 

Impolitic  Conduct  of  Charles.  —  He  plunders  the  Works  of  Art.  —  Gon- 
salvo  de  Cordova.  —  His  Brilliant  Qualities.  —  Raised  to  the  Italian 
Command.  —  Battle  of  Seminara.  —  Gonsalvo's  Successes. — Decline 
of  the  French.  —  He  receives  the  Title  of  Great  Captain.  —  Expul- 
sion of  the  French  from  Italy. 

Charles  the  Eighth  might  have  found  abun-  ciiapteu 

dant  occupation,  during  his  brief  residence  at  Na-   . — 

pies,  in  placing  the  kingdom  in  a  proper  posture  of  ch"?i"«! 01 
defence,  and  in  conciliating  the  good-will  of  the 
inhabitants,  without  which  he  could  scarcely  hope 
to  maintain  himself  permanently  in  his  conquest. 
So  far  from  this,  however,  he  showed  the  utmost 
aversion  to  business,  wasting  his  hours,  as  has  been 
already  noticed,  in  the  most  frivolous  amusements. 
He  treated  the  great  feudal  aristocracy  of  the  coun- 
try with  utter  neglect;  rendering  himself  difficult 
of  access,  and  lavishing  all  dignities  and  emolu- 
ments with  partial  prodigality  on  his  French  sub- 
jects. His  followers  disgusted  the  nation  still 
further  by  their  insolence  and  unbridled  licentious- 
ness.    The  people  naturally  called  to  mind  the 


296 


ITALIAN  WARS. 


part  virtues  of  the  exiled  Ferdinand,  whose  temperate 
—  rule  they  contrasted  with  the  rash  and  rapacious 
conduct  of  their  new  masters.  The  spirit  of  dis- 
content spread  more  widely,  as  the  French  were 
too  thinly  scattered  to  enforce  subordination.  A 
correspondence  was  entered  into  with  Ferdinand  in 
Sicily,  and  in  a  short  time  several  of  the  most  con- 
siderable cities  of  the  kingdom  openly  avowed  their 
allegiance  to  the  house  of  Aragon.1 
rudders  the      In  the  mean  time,  Charles  and  his  nobles,  satia- 

wurks  of  art.  7  7 

ted  with  a  life  of  inactivity  and  pleasure,  and  feel- 
ing that  they  had  accomplished  the  great  object  of 
the  expedition,  began  to  look  with  longing  eyes 
towards  their  own  country.  Their  impatience  was 
converted  into  anxiety  on  receiving  tidings  of  the 
coalition  mustering  in  the  north.  Charles,  how- 
ever, took  care  to  secure  to  himself  some  of  the 
spoils  of  victory,  in  a  manner  which  we  have  seen 
practised,  on  a  much  greater  scale,  by  his  country- 
men in  our  day.  He  collected  the  various  works 
of  art  with  which  Naples  was  adorned,  precious 
antiques,  sculptured  marble  and  alabaster,  gates  of 
bronze  curiously  wrought,  and  such  architectural 
ornaments  as  were  capable  of  transportation,  and 
caused  them  to  be  embarked  on  board  his  fleet  for 
the  south  of  France,  "  endeavouring,"  says  the 
Curate  of  Los  Palacios,  "  to  build  up  his  own  re- 
nown on  the  ruins  of  the  kings  of  Naples,  of  glori- 
ous memory."    His  vessels,  however,  did  not  reach 

l  Comines,   Memoires,  liv.  7,    Giannone,  Istoria  di  Napoli,  lib. 
chap.  17. — Summonte,  Hist,  di    29,  cap.  2. 
.Napoli,  torn.  iii.  lib.  6,  cap.  2. — 


CAMPAIGNS  OF  GONSALVO. 


297 


their  place  of  destination,  but  were  captured  by  a  chapter 
Biscayan  and  Genoese  fleet  off  Pisa.  2  — - — 

Charles  had  entirely  failed  in  his  application  to 
Pope  Alexander  the  Sixth  for  a  recognition  of  his 
right  to  Naples,  by  a  formal  act  of  investiture.3  He 
determined,  however,  to  go  through  the  ceremony 
of  a  coronation  ;  and,  on  the  12th  of  May,  he  made 
his  public  entrance  into  the  city,  arrayed  in  splen- 
did robes  of  scarlet  and  ermine,  with  the  impe- 
rial diadem  on  his  head,  a  sceptre  in  one  hand, 
and  a  globe,  the  symbol  of  universal  sovereignty,  in 
the  other  ;  while  the  adulatory  populace  saluted  -his 
royal  ear  with  the  august  title  of  Emperor.  After 
the  conclusion  of  this  farce,  he  made  preparations 
for  his  instant  departure  from  Naples.  On  the 
20th  of  May  he  set  out  on  his  homeward  march,  at 
the  head  of  one  half  of  his  army,  amounting  in  all 
to  not  more  than  nine  thousand  fighting  men.  The 
other  half  was  left  for  the  defence  of  his  new  con- 
quest. This  arrangement  was  highly  impolitic, 
since  he  neither  took  with  him  enough  to  cover  his 
retreat,  nor  left  enough  to  secure  the  preservation 
of  Naples.4 

It  is  not  necessary  to  follow  the  French  army  in  Retreat  of 

J  J         the  French. 


2  Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catolicos, 
MS.,  cap.  140-143. 

3  Summonte,  Hist,  di  Napoli, 
torn.  iii.  lib.  6,  cap.  2. 

According  to  Giannone,  (Istoria 
di  Napoli,  hb.  29,  cap.  2,)  he  did 
obtain  the  investiture  from  the 
pope  ;  but  this  statement  is  con- 
tradicted by  several,  and  confirmed 
by  none,  of  the  authorities  I  have 
consulted. 

4  Brantdme,  Hommes  Illustres, 


CEuvres,  torn.  ii.  pp.  3-5.  — Co- 
mines,  Memoires,  liv.  8,  chap.  2. 

The  particulars  of  the  coronation 
are  recorded  with  punctilious  pre- 
cision by  Andre"  de  la  Vi^ne,  sec- 
retary of  Queen  Anne.  (Hist,  de 
Charles  VIII.,  p.  201.)  Daru  has 
confounded  this  farce  with  Charles's 
original  entry  into  Naples  in  Feb- 
ruary. Hist,  de  Venise,  torn.  iii. 
liv.  20,  p.  217. 


VOL.  II. 


38 


298 


ITALIAN  WARS. 


part  its  retrograde  movement  through  Italy.  It  is 
— —  enough  to  say,  that  this  was  not  eondueted  with 
sufficient  despatch  to  anticipate  the  junction  of 
the  allied  forces,  who  assembled  to  dispute  its  pass- 
age on  the  banks  of  the  Taro,  near  Fornovo.  An 
action  was  there  fought,  in  which  King  Charles,  at 
the  head  of  his  loyal  chivalry,  achieved  such  deeds 
of  heroism,  as  shed  a  lustre  over  his  ill-concerted 
enterprise,  and  which,  if  they  did  not  gain  him  an 
undisputed  victory,  secured  the  fruits  of  it,  by 
enabling  him  to  effect  his  retreat  without  further 
molestation.  At  Turin  he  entered  into  negotiation 
with  the  calculating  duke  of  Milan,  which  termi- 
nated in  the  treaty  of  Vercelli,  October  10th,  1495. 
By  this  treaty  Charles  obtained  no  other  advantage 
than  that  of  detaching  his  cunning  adversary  from 
the  coalition.  The  Venetians,  although  refusing  to 
accede  to  it,  made  no  opposition  to  any  arrange- 
ment, which  would  expedite  the  removal  of  their 
formidable  foe  beyond  the  Alps.  This  was  speedi- 
ly accomplished  ;  and  Charles,  yielding  to  his  own 
impatience  and  that  of  his  nobles,  recrossed  that 
mountain  rampart  which  nature  has  so  ineffectually 
provided  for  the  security  of  Italy,  and  reached 
Grenoble  with  his  army  on  the  27th  of  the  month. 
Once  more  restored  to  his  own  dominions,  the 
young  monarch  abandoned  himself  without  reserve 
to  the  licentious  pleasures  to  which  he  was  passion- 
ately addicted,  forgetting  alike  his  dreams  of  ambi- 
tion, and  the  brave  companions  in  arms  whom  he 
had  deserted  in  Italy.  Thus  ended  this  memorable 
expedition,  which,  though  crowned  with  complete 


CAMPAIGNS  OF  GONSALVO. 


299 


success,  was  attended  with  no  other  permanent  re-  chapter 

suit  to  its  authors,  than  that  of  opening  the  way  . —  

to  those  disastrous  wars,  which  wasted  the  re- 
sources of  their  country  for  a  great  part  of  the  six- 
teenth century. 5 

Charles  the  Eighth  had  left  as  his  viceroy  in 
Naples  Gilbert  de  Bourbon,  duke  of  Montpensier, 
a  prince  of  the  blood,  and  a  brave  and  loyal  noble- 
man, but  of  slender  military  capacity,  and  so  fond 
of  his  bed,  says  Comines,  that  he  seldom  left  it 
before  noon.  The  command  of  the  forces  in  Cala- 
bria was  intrusted  to  M.  d'Aubigny,  a  Scottish 
cavalier  of  the  house  of  Stuart,  raised  by  Charles 
to  the  dignity  of  grand  constable  of  France.  He 
was  so  much  esteemed  for  his  noble  and  chivalrous 
qualities,  that  he  was  styled  by  the  annalists  of 
that  day,  says  Brantome,  "  grand  chevalier  sans 
reproche."  He  had  large  experience  in  military 
matters,  and  was  reputed  one  of  the  best  officers 
in  the  French  service.  Besides  these  principal 
commanders,  there  were  others  of  subordinate  rank 
stationed  at  the  head  of  small  detachments  on 
different  points  of  the  kingdom,  and  especially  in 
the  fortified  cities  along  the  coasts. 6 

Scarcely  had  Charles  the  Eighth  quitted  Naples, 
when  his  rival,  Ferdinand,  who  had  already  com- 
pleted his  preparations  in  Sicily,  made  a  descent  on 

5  Villeneuve,   M6moires,  apud       6  Comines,  M^moires,   liv.  8, 
Pctitot,  Collection  de  Memoires,    chap.  1. — Brantome,  Hommes  II- 
tom.  xiv.  pp.  262,  263. — Flassan,    lustres,  torn.  ii.  p.  59 
Diplomatic  Franchise,  torn.  i.  pp. 
967-263. —  Comines,  Memoires, 
liv.  8,  ihap.  10  —  12,  18 


300 


ITALIAN  WARS. 


pari  the  southern  extremity  of  Calabria.  He  was  sup- 
—  ported  in  this  by  the  Spanish  levies  under  the 
admiral  Requesens,  and  Gonsalvo  of  Cordova,  who 
reached  Sicily  in  the  month  of  May.  As  the  latter 
of  these  commanders  was  destined  to  act  a  most 
conspicuous  part  in  the  Italian  wars,  it  may  not  be 
amiss  to  give  some  account  of  his  early  life. 

corsaivo  Gonzalo  Fernandez  de  Cordova,  or  Aguilar,  as 
he  is  sometimes  styled  from  the  territorial  title 
assumed  by  his  branch  of  the  family,  was  born  at 
Montilla,  in  1453.  His  father  died  early,  leaving 
two  sons,  Alonso  de  Aguilar,  whose  name  occurs  in 
some  of  the  most  brilliant  passages  of  the  war  of 
Granada,  and  Gonsalvo,  three  years  younger  than 
his  brother.  During  the  troubled  reigns  of  John 
the  Second  and  Henry  the  Fourth,  the  city  of  Cor- 
dova was  divided  by  the  feuds  of  the  rival  families 
of  Cabra  and  Aguilar ;  and  it  is  reported  that  the 
citizens  of  the  latter  faction,  after  the  loss  of  their 
natural  leader,  Gonsalvo's  father,  used  to  testify 
their  loyalty  to  his  house  by  bearing  the  infant 
children  along  with  them  in  their  rencontres  ;  thus 
Gonsalvo  may  be  said  to  have  been  literally  nursed 
amid  the  din  of  battle.7 

hu  early         On  the  breaking  out  of  the  civil  wars,  the  two 

life.  O  ' 

brothers  attached  themselves  to  the  fortunes  of 
Alfonso  and  Isabella.  At  their  court,  the  young 
Gonsalvo  soon  attracted  attention  by  the  uncom- 
mon beauty  of  his  person,  his  polished  manners, 

7  Zurita,  Hist,  del  Rey  Hernan-    Magni  Gonsalvi,  lib   1,  pp.  204, 
do.  lib.  2,  cap.  7.  —  Giovio,  Vita  205. 


CAMPAIGNS  OF  GONSALVO. 


301 


and  proficiency  in  all  knightly  exercises.    lie  in-  chapter 

dulged  in  a  profuse  magnificence  in  his  apparel,   L_ 

equipage,  and  general  style  of  living ;  a  circum- 
stance, which,  accompanied  with  his  brilliant  quali- 
ties, gave  him  the  title  at  the  court  of  el  principe  de 
los  cavalier os,  the  prince  of  cavaliers.  This  care- 
lessness of  expense,  indeed,  called  forth  more  than 
once  the  affectionate  remonstrance  of  his  brother 
Alonso,  who,  as  the  elder  son,  had  inherited  the 
mayorazgo,  or  family  estate,  and  who  provided  lib- 
erally for  Gonsalvo's  support.  He  served  during 
the  Portuguese  war  under  Alonso  de  Cardenas, 
grand  master  of  St.  James,  and  was  honored  with 
the  public  commendations  of  his  general  for  his  sig- 
nal display  of  valor  at  the  battle  of  Albuera;  where, 
it  is  remarked,  the  young  hero  incurred  an  unneces- 
sary degree  of  personal  hazard  by  the  ostentatious 
splendor  of  his  armour.  Of  this  commander,  and 
of  the  count  of  Tend  ilia,  Gonsalvo  always  spoke 
with  the  greatest  deference,  acknowledging  that 
he  had  learned  the  rudiments  of  war  from. them. 8 

The  lon<r  war  of  Granada,  howrever,  was  the  great  hi»  bruibnt 

°  j  °  qualities. 

school  in  which  his  military  discipline  wras  per- 
fected. He  did  not,  it  is  true,  occupy  so  eminent 
a  position  in  these  campaigns  as  some  other  chiefs 
of  riper  years  and  more  enlarged  experience  ;  but 
on  various  occasions  he  displayed  uncommon  proofs 
both  of  address  and  valor.  He  particularly  distin- 
guished himself  at  the  capture  of  Tajara,  Mora, 

aPulgnr,  Sumnrio  de  hs  Ha-    1834,)  p.  145.  —  Giovio,  Vita Mag- 
Rafias  del  Gran  Capitan,  (Madrid,    ni  Gonsalvi,  lib.  1,  pp.  205  et  seq. 


302 


ITALIAN  WAKS. 


part     and  Monte  Frio.    At  the  last  place,  he  headed  the 
ii.  . 

.  scaling  party,  and  was  the  first  to  mount  the  walls 

in  the  face  of  the  enemy.  He  wellnigh  closed  his 
career  in  a  midnight  skirmish  before  Granada, 
which  occurred  a  short  time  before  the  end  of  the  ♦ 
war.  In  the  heat  of  the  struggle  his  horse  was 
slain  ;  and  Gonsalvo,  unable  to  extricate  himself 
from  the  morass  in  which  he  was  entangled,  would 
have  perished,  but  for  a  faithful  servant  of  the 
family,  who  mounted  him  on  his  own  horse,  briefly 
commending  to  his  master  the  care  of  his  wife 
and  children.  Gonsalvo  escaped,  but  his  brave  fol- 
lower paid  for  his  loyalty  with  his  life.  At  the 
conclusion  of  the  war,  he  was  selected,  together 
with  Ferdinand's  secretary  Zafra,  in  consequence 
of  his  plausible  address,  and  his  familiarity  with  the 
Arabic,  to  conduct  the  negotiation  with  the  Moor- 
ish government.  He  was  secretly  introduced  for 
this  purpose  by  night  into  Granada,  and  finally  suc- 
ceeded in  arranging  the  terms  of  capitulation  with 
the  unfortunate  Abdallah,  as  has  been  already 
stated.  In  consideration  of  his  various  services, 
the  Spanish  sovereigns  granted  him  a  pension,  and 
a  large  landed  estate  in  the  conquered  territory.9 
After  the  war,  Gonsalvo  remained  with  the  court, 

9  Peter  Martyr,  Opus  Epist.,  "  Gonsalve  de  Cordoue,"  where  the 

epist.  90.  —  Giovio,  Vita  Magni  young  warrior  is  made  to  play  a 

Gonsalvi,  lib.  1,  pp.  211,  212. —  part  he  is  by  no  means  entitled  to, 

Conde,  Domination  de  los  Arabes,  as   hero  of  the  Granadine  war. 

torn.  iii.  cap.  42.  —  Quintana,  Es-  Graver  writers,  who  cannot  law- 

jailoles  Celebres,  torn.  i.  pp.  207  fully  plead  the   privilege  of  ro- 

-216.  —  Pulgar,  Sumario,  p.  103.  mancing,  have  committed  the  same 

Florian  has  given  circulation  to  error.  See,  among  others,  VariUas, 

a  popular  error  by  his  romance  of  Politique  de  Ferdinand,  p.  3. 


CAMPAIGNS  OF  GONSALVO. 


303 


and  his  high  reputation  and  brilliant  exterior  made  ciiafteb 

him  one  of  the  most  distinguished  ornaments  of  the   - 

royal  circle.  His  manners  displayed  all  the  roman- 
tic gallantry  characteristic  of  the  age,  of  which  the 
following,  among  other  instances,  is  recorded.  The 
queen  accompanied  her  daughter  Joanna  on  board 
the  fleet  which  was  to  bear  her  to  Flanders,  the 
country  of  her  destined  husband.  After  bidding 
adieu  to  the  infanta,  Isabella  returned  in  her  boat 
to  the  shore  ;  but  the  waters  were  so  swollen,  that 
it  was  found  difficult  to  make  good  a  footing  for  her 
on  the  Leach.  As  the  sailors  were  preparing  to 
drag  the  bark  higher  up  the  strand,  G  on  salvo,  who 
was  present,  and  dressed,  as  the  Castilian  historians 
are  careful  to  inform  us,  in  a  rich  suit  of  brocade 
and  crimson  velvet,  unwilling  that  the  person  of  his 
royal  mistress  should  be  profaned  by  the  touch  of 
such  rude  hands,  waded  into  the  water,  and  bore 
the  queen  in  his  arms  to  the  shore,  amid  the  shouts 
and  plaudits  of  the  spectators.  The  incident  may 
form  a  counterpart  to  the  well-known  anecdote  of 
Sir  Walter  Raleigh.10 

Isabella's  lone:  and  intimate  acquaintance  with  Raised  to 

1  the  Italian 

Gonsalvo  enabled  her  to  form  a  correct  estimate  of  co,n,mml- 
his  great  talents.    When  the  Italian  expedition  was 


to  Giovio,  Vita  Magni  Gonsalvi, 
p.  214.  —  Chronica  del  Gran  Capi- 
tan  Gonzalo  Hernandez  de  Cordova 
y  Aizuilar,  (Alcala  de  Henares, 
1584,)  cap.  23. 

Another  example  of  his  gallan- 
try occurred  during  the  Granadine 
war,  when  the  fire  of  Santa  Fe  had 
consumed  the  royal  tent,  with  the 
greater  part  of  the  queen's  apparel 


and  other  valuable  effects.  Gonsal- 
vo, on  learning  the  disaster,  at  his 
castle  of  Illora,  supplied  the  queen 
so  abundantly  from  the  magnificent 
wardrobe  of  his  wife  Dofia  Maria 
Manrique,  as  led  Isabella  pleasantly 
to  remark,  that,  "the  fire  had  done 
more  execution  in  his  quarters,  than 
in  her  own."  Pulgar,  Sumario, 
p.  187. 


ITALIAN  WARS. 


part     resolved  on,  she  instantly  fixed  her  eyes  on  him  as 

 —  the  most  suitable  person  to  conduct  it.    She  knew 

that  he  possessed  the  qualities  essential  to  success 
in  a  new  and  difficult  enterprise,  —  courage,  con- 
stancy, singular  prudence,  dexterity  in  negotia- 
tion, and  inexhaustible  fertility  of  resource.  She 
accordingly  recommended  him,  without  hesitation, 
to  her  husband,  as  the  commander  of  the  Italian 
army.  He  approved  her  choice,  although  it  seems 
to  have  caused  no  little  surprise  at  the  court,  which, 
notwithstanding  the  favor  in  which  Gonsalvo  was 
held  by  the  sovereigns,  was  not  prepared  to  see 
him  advanced  over  the  heads  of  veterans,  of  so 
much  riper  years  and  higher  military  renown  than 
himself.  The  event  proved  the  sagacity  of  Isa- 
bella.11 

Arrives  in  The  part  of  the  squadron  destined  to  convey  the 
new  general  to  Sicily  was  made  ready  for  sea  in 
the  spring  of  1495.  After  a  tempestuous  voyage, 
he  reached  Messina  on  the  24th  of  May.  He 
found,  that  Ferdinand,  of  Naples,  had  already  begun 
operations  in  Calabria,  where  he  had  occupied  Reg- 
gio  with  the  assistance  of  the  admiral  Requesens,, 
who  reached  Sicily  with  a  part  of  the  armament  a 
short  time  previous  to  Gonsalvo's  arrival.  The 
whole  effective  force  of  the  Spaniards  did  not  ex- 
ceed six  hundred  lances  and  fifteen  hundred  foot, 
besides  those  employed  in  the  fleet,  amounting  to 
about  three  thousand  and  five  hundred  more.  The 

11  Giovio,  Vita  Magni  Gonsalvi,  p  214.—  Chronica  del  Grar.  Capi- 
tan,  cap.  23. 


CAMPAIGNS  OF  GONSALVO. 


305 


finances  of  Spain  had  been  too  freely  drained  in  chapter 

the  late  Moorish  war  to  authorize  any  extraordi-  — 

nary  expenditure  ;  and  Ferdinand  designed  to  assist 
his  kinsman  rather  with  his  name,  than  with  any 
great  accession  of  numbers.  Preparations,  how- 
ever, were  going  forward  for  raising  additional 
levies,  especially  among  the  hardy  peasantry  of  the 
Asturias  and  Galicia,  on  which  the  war  of  Granada 
had  fallen  less  heavily  than  on  the  south.12 

On  the  26th  of  May,  Gonsalvo  de  Cordova  crossed  Lands  t:; 

J  t  CaUibria. 

over  to  Reggio  in  Calabria,  where  a  plan  of  opera- 
tion was  concerted  between  him  and  the  Neapolitan 
monarch.  Before  opening  the  campaign,  several 
strong  places  in  the  province,  which  owed  allegi- 
ance to  the  Aragonese  family,  were  placed  in  the 
hands  of  the  Spanish  genera],  as  security  for  the 
reimbursement  of  expenses  incurred  by  his  govern- 
ment in  the  war.  As  Gonsalvo  placed  little  reli- 
ance on  his  Calabrian  or  Sicilian  recruits,  he  was 
obliged  to  detach  a  considerable  part  of  his  Spanish 
forces  to  garrison  these  places. 13 


12  Zurita,  Hist,  del  Rey  Her- 
nando, lib.  2,  cap.  7,  24. — Quin- 
tana,  Espauoles  Celebres,  torn.  i. 
p.  222.  —  Chronica  del  Gran  Capi- 
tan,  ubi  supra. 

Giovio,  in  his  biography  of  Gon- 
salvo, estimates  these  forces  at  5000 
foot  and  GOO  horse,  which  last  in 
his  History  he  raises  to  700s  I 
have  followed  Zurita,  as  presenting 
the  more  probable  statement,  and  as 
generally  more  accurate  in  all  that 
relates  to  his  own  nation.  It  is  a 
hopeless  task  to  attempt  to  rec- 
oncile the  manifold  inaccuracies, 
contradictions,  and  discrepancies, 
which  perplex  the  narratives  of  the 


writers  on  both  sides,  in  every 
thing  relating  to  numerical  esti- 
mates. The  difficulty  is  greatly 
increased  by  the  extremely  vague 
application  of  the  term  lance,  as 
we  meet,  wiih  it.  including  six, 
four,  three,  or  even  a  less  number 
of  followers,  as  the  case  might  be. 

13  Mariana,  Hist,  de  Espafia, 
torn.  ii.  lib.  26,  cap.  10.  —  Zurita, 
Hist,  del  Rey  Hernando,  lib.  2, 
cap.  7. 

The  occupation  of  these  places 
by  Gonsalvo  excited  the  pope's 
jealousy,  as  to  the  designs  of 
the  Spanish  sovereigns.  Inconse- 
quence of  his  remonsi ranees,  the 


VOL.  II. 


son 


ITALIAN  WARS. 


part        ^he  preseilce  0f  their  monarch  revived  the  dor- 

—  mailt  loyalty  of  his   Calabrian  subjects.  They 

thronged  to  his  standard,  till  at  length  he  found 
himself  at  the  head  of  six  thousand  men,  chiefly 
composed  of  the  raw  militia  of  the  country.  He 
marched  at  once  with  Gonsalvo  on  St.  Agatha, 
which  opened  its  gates  without  resistance.  He 
semhmi-aCD  tneu  directed  his  course  towards  Seminara,  a  place 
of  some  strength  about  eight  leagues  from  Reggio. 
On  his  way  he  cut  in  pieces  a  detachment  of 
French  on  its  march  to  reinforce  the  garrison  there. 
Seminara  imitated  the  example  of  St.  Agatha,  and, 
receiving  the  Neapolitan  army  without  opposition, 
unfurled  the  standard  of  Aragon  on  its  walls. 
While  this  was  going  forward,  Antonio  Grimani, 
the  Venetian  admiral,  scoured  the  eastern  coasts 
of  the  kingdom  with  a  fleet  of  four  and  twenty 
galleys,  and,  attacking  the  strong  town  of  Monopoli, 
in  the  possession  of  the  French,  put  the  greater 
part  of  the  garrison  to  the  sword. 

D'Aubigny,  who  lay  at  this  time  with  an  incon- 
siderable body  of  French  troops  in  the  south  of 
Calabria,  saw  the  necessity  of  some  vigorous  move- 
ment to  check  the  further  progress  of  the  enemy 
He  determined  to  concentrate  his  forces,  scattered 
through  the  province,  and  march  against  Ferdinand, 

Castilian  envoy,  Garcilasso  de  la  Abarca  assures  his  readers,  *'  was 

Vega,  was  instructed  to  direct  Gon-  unwilling  to  give  cause  of  com- 

salvo,  that,  "  in  case  any  inferior  plaint  to  any  one,  unless  he  were 

places  had  been  since  put  into  his  greatly  a  gainer  by  it."    Reyes  de 

hands,  he  should  restore  them  ;  if  Aragon,  rey  30,  cap.  8.  —  Zurita, 

they  were  of  importance,  however,  Hist,  del  Rey  Hernando,  torn,  v 

he  was  first  to  confer  with  his  own  lib.  2,  cap.  8. 
■government."  King  Ferdinand,  as 


CAMPAIGNS  OF  GOiNSALVO. 


307 


in  the  hope  of  bringing  him  to  a  decisive  action,  chapter 

For  this  purpose,  in  addition  to  the  garrisons  dis-   L_ 

persed  among  the  principal  towns,  he  summoned  to 
his  aid  the  forces,  consisting  principally  of  Swiss 
infantry,  stationed  in  the  Basilicate  under  Precy,  a 
brave  young  cavalier,  esteemed  one  of  the  best 
officers  in  the  French  service.  After  the  arrival  of 
this  reinforcement,  aided  by  the  levies  of  the  An- 
gevin barons,  D'Aubigny,  whose  effective  strength 
now  greatly  surpassed  that  of  his  adversary,  directed 
his  march  towards  Seminara.14 

Ferdinand,  who  had  received  no  intimation  of  eoiwaivi.% 

7  jirudence. 

his  adversary's  junction  with  Precy,  and  who  con- 
sidered him  much  inferior  to  himself  in  numbers, 
no  sooner  heard  of  his  approach,  than  he  deter- 
mined to  march  out  at  once  before  he  could  reach 
Seminara,  and  give  him  battle.  Gonsalvo  was  of 
a  different  opinion.  His  own  troops  had  too  little 
experience  in  war  with  the  French  and  Swiss  vet- 
erans to  make  him  willing  to  risk  all  on  the  chances 
of  a  single  battle.  The  Spanish  heavy-armed  cav- 
alry, indeed,  were  a  match  for  any  in  Europe,  and 
were  even  said  to  surpass  every  other  in  the  beauty 
and  excellence  of  their  appointments,  at  a  period, 
when  arms  were  finished  to  luxury.15  He  had  but 
a  handful  of  these,  however;  by  far  the  greatest 
part  of  his  cavalry  consisting  of  ginetes,  or  light- 
armed  troops,  of  inestimable  service  in  the  wild 

14  Gio\io,  Vita  Magni  Gonsalvi,  dini,  Istoria,  lib.  2,  pp.  88,  92.— 

pp.  215-217.  —  Idem,  Hist,  sui  Chronica  del  Gran  Capitan,  cap.  25. 
Temporis,  pp.  83-85.  —  Bembo,       IS  Giovio,  Vita  Magni  Gonsalvi, 

Istoria  Viniziana,  lib.  3,  pp.  1G0,  lib.  I.  —  Du  Bos,  Ligue  de  Cam- 

185.  —  Zurita,  Hist,  del  Rey  Her-  bray,  introd.,  p.  58. 
nando,  lib.  2,  cap.  8.  —  Guicciar- 


ITALIAN  WARS. 


part  guerilla  warfare  to  which  they  had  been  accus- 
— — —  tomed  in  Granada,  but  obviously  incapable  of  coping 
with  the  iron  gendarmerie  of  France.  He  felt  some 
distrust,  too,  in  bringing  his  little  corps  of  infantry 
without  further  preparation,  armed,  as  they  were, 
only  with  short  swords  and  bucklers,  and  much  re- 
duced, as  has  been  already  stated,  in  number,  to 
encounter  the  formidable  phalanx  of  Swiss  pikes. 
As  for  the  Calabrian  levies,  he  did  not  j)lace  the 
least  reliance  on  them.  At  all  events,  he  thought 
it  prudent,  before  coming  to  action,  to  obtain  more 
accurate  information  than  they  now  possessed,  of 
the  actual  strength  of  the  enemy.16 

In  all  this,  however,  he  was  overruled  by  the 
impatience  of  Ferdinand  and  his  followers.  The 
principal  Spanish  cavaliers,  indeed,  as  well  as  the 
Italian,  among  whom  may  be  found  names  which 
afterwards  rose  to  high  distinction  in  these  wars, 
urged  Gonsalvo  to  lay  aside  his  scruples  ;  represent- 
ing the  impolicy  of  showing  any  distrust  of  their 
own  strength  at  this  crisis,  and  of  balking  the  ardor 
of  their  soldiers,  now  hot  for  action.  The  Spanish 
chief,  though  far  from  being  convinced,  yielded  to 
these  earnest  remonstrances,  and  King  Ferdinand 
led  out  his  little  army  without  further  delay  against 
the  enemy. 

Dattie  or        After  traversing  a  chain  of  hills,  stretching  in  an 

Seminara.  m      °  #  0 

easterly  direction  from  Seminara,  at  the  distance  ot 
about  three  miles  he  arrived  before  a  small  stream, 
on  the   plains   beyond  which   he  discerned  the 


10  Zurita,  Hist,  del  Rey  Hernando,  lib  2,  cap.  7.  —  Giovio,  Vita 
Magni  Gonsalvi,  ubi  supra. 


CAMPAIGNS  OF  GONSALVO. 


309 


French  army  in  rapid  advance  against  him.     He  chapter 

resolved  to  wait  its  approach  ;  and,  taking  position  .  _  

on  the  slope  of  the  hills  towards  the  river,  he  drew 
up  his  horse  on  the  right  wing,  and  his  infantry  on 
the  left.17 

The  French  generals.  D'Aubigny  and  Precy,  put- 
ting themselves  at  the  head  of  their  cavalry  on  the 
left,  consisting  of  about  four  hundred  heavy-armed, 
and  twice  as  many  light  horse,  dashed  into  the 
water  without  hesitation.  Their  right  was  occu- 
pied by  the  bristling  phalanx  of  Swiss  spearmen  in 
close  array ;  behind  these  were  the  militia  of  the 
country.  The  Spanish  ginetes  succeeded  in  throw- 
ing the  French  gendarmerie  into  some  disorder,  be- 
fore it  could  form  after  crossing  the  stream  ;  but,  no 
sooner  was  this  accomplished,  than  the  Spaniards, 
incapable  of  withstanding  the  charge  of  their  ene- 
my, suddenly  wheeled  about  and  precipitately  re- 
treated with  the  intention  of  again  returning  on 
their  assailants,  after  the  fashion  of  the  Moorish 
tactics.  The  Calabrian  militia,  not  comprehending 
this  manoeuvre,  interpreted  it  into  a  defeat.  They 
thought  the  battle  lost,  and,  seized  with  a  panic, 
broke  their  ranks,  and  fled  to  a  man,  before  the 
Swiss  infantry  had  time  so  much  as  to  lower  its 
lances  against  them. 

King  Ferdinand  in  vain  attempted  to  rally  the  d<  feat  of  the 

°  1  J  Ntfij<olitan9- 

dastardly  fugitives.  The  French  cavalry  was  soon 
upon   them,   making  frightful  slaughter  in  their 

M  Giovio,  Vita  Magpi  Gonsalvi,    tana,  Espanoles  C61ebres,  torn.  i. 
lib.  1,  pp.  216,  217. —  Chronica    pp.  223-227. 
del  Gran  Capitan,  cap.  24.  —  Quin- 


ITALIAN  WARS. 


part  ranks.  The  young  monarch,  whose  splendid  arms 
_  _  and  towering  plumes  made  him  a  conspicuous  mark 
in  the  field,  was  exposed  to  imminent  peril.  He 
had  broken  his  lance  in  the  body  of  one  of  the 
foremost  of  the  French  cavaliers,  when  his  horse 
fell  under  him,  and  as  his  feet  were  entangled  in 
the  stirrups,  he  would  inevitably  have  perished  in 
the  melee,  but  for  the  prompt  assistance  of  a  young 
nobleman  named  Juan  de  Altavilla,  who  mounted 
his  master  on  his  own  horse,  and  calmly  awaited 
the  approach  of  the  enemy,  by  whom  he  was  im- 
mediately slain.  Instances  of  this  affecting  loyalty 
and  self-devotion  not  unfrequently  occur  in  these 
wars,  throwing  a  melancholy  grace  over  the  darker 
and  more  ferocious  features  of  the  time.18 

Gonsalvo  was  seen  in  the  thickest  of  the  fight, 
long  after  the  king's  escape,  charging  the  enemy 
briskly  at  the  head  of  his  handful  of  Spaniards,  not 
in  the  hope  of  retrieving  the  day,  but  of  covering 
the  flight  of  the  panic-struck  Neapolitans.  At 
length  he  was  borne  along  by  the  rushing  tide, 
and  succeeded  in  bringing  off  the  greater  part  of 
his  cavalry  safe  to  Seminara.  Had  the  French  fol- 
lowed up  the  blow,  the  greater  part  of  the  royal 
army,  with  probably  King  Ferdinand  and  Gonsalvo 
at  its  head,  would  have  fallen  into  their  hands,  and 
thus  not  only  the  fate  of  the  campaign,  but  of  Na- 
ples itself,  would  have  been  permanently  decided  by 

*8  Giovio,  Hist,  sui  Temporis,  lib.  6,  cap.  2.  —  Guiccianlini,  la- 

lib.  3,  pp.  83-85.  —  Chronica  del  toria,  lib.  2,  p.  112.  —  Garibay, 

Gran  Capitan,  cap.  24.  —  Sum-  Compendio,  torn.  ii.  lib.  19,  p.  090. 
monte,  Hist,  di  Napoli,  torn.  iii. 


CAMPAIGNS  OF  GONSALVO. 


311 


this  battle.     Fortunately  the  French  did  not  under-  chapter 

stand  so  well  how  to  use  a  victory,  as  to  gain  it.   !«  

They  made  no  attempt  to  pursue.  This  is  imputed 
to  the  illness  of  their  general,  D'Aubigny,  occa- 
sioned by  the  extreme  unhealthiness  of  the  climate. 
He  was  too  feeble  to  sit  long  on  his  horse,  and  was 
removed  into  a  litter  as  soon  as  the  action  was  de- 
cided. Whatever  was  the  cause,  the  victors  by  this 
inaction  suffered  the  golden  fruits  of  victory  to 
escape  them.  Ferdinand  made  his  escape  on  the 
same  day  on  board  a  vessel,  which  conveyed  him 
back  to  Sicily :  and  Gonsalvo,  on  the  following;  Goimivo 

J  °    retreats  to 

morning  before  break  of  day,  effected  his  retreat  Resgi0 
across  the  mountains  to  Reggio,  at  the  head  of  four 
hundred  Spanish  lances.  Thus  terminated  the  first 
battle  of  importance  in  which  Gonsalvo  of  Cordova 
held  a  distinguished  command ;  the  only  one  which 
he  lost  during  his  long  and  fortunate  career.  Its 
loss,  however,  attached  no  discredit  to  him,  since  it 
was  entered  into  in  manifest  opposition  to  his  judg- 
ment. On  the  contrary,  his  conduct  throughout 
this  affair  tended  greatly  to  establish  his  reputation 
by  showing  him  to  be  no  less  prudent  in  council, 
than  bold  in  action.19 

King  Ferdinand,  far  from  being  disheartened  by 
this  defeat,  gained  new  confidence  from  his  expe- 
rience of  the  favorable  dispositions  existing  towards 
him  in  Calabria.  Relying  on  a  similar  feeling  of 
loyalty  in  his  capital,  he  determined  to  hazard  a 

J9  Guicciardini,  Istoria,  lib.  1,    poris,  lib.  3,  p.  85.  —  Lan.uza,  Hia- 
p.  112.  —  Giovio,  Hist,  sui  Tem-    torias,  torn.  i.  lib.  1,  cap.  7. 


312 


ITALIAN  WARS. 


fart     hold  stroke  for  its  recovery ;  and  that,  too,  instant- 

  ly,  before  his  late  discomfiture  should  have  time  to 

operate  on  the  spirits  of  his  partisans.  He  accord- 
ingly embarked  at  Messina,  with  a  handful  of 
troops  only,  on  board  the  fleet  of  the  Spanish  admi 
ral,  Requesens.  It  amounted  in  all  to  eighty  ves- 
sels, most  of  them  of  inconsiderable  size.  With 
this  armament,  which,  notwithstanding  its  formi- 
dable show,  carried  little  effective  force  for  land 
operations,  the  adventurous  young  monarch  ap- 
peared off  the  harbour  of  Naples  before  the  end 
of  June. 

Charles's  viceroy,  the  duke  of  Montpensier,  at 
that  time  garrisoned  Naples  with  six  thousand 
French  troops.  On  the  appearance  of  the  Spanish 
navy,  he  marched  out  to  prevent  Ferdinand's  land- 
ing, leaving  a  few  only  of  his  soldiers  to  keep  the 
city  in  awe.  But  he  had  scarcely  quitted  it  before 
the  inhabitants,  who  had  waited  with  impatience 
an  opportunity  for  throwing  off  the  yoke,  sounded 
the  tocsin,  and,  rising  to  arms  through  every  part 
of  the  city,  and  massacring  the  feeble  remains  of 
the  garrison,  shut  the  gates  against  him ;  while 
Ferdinand,  who  had  succeeded  in  drawing  off  the 
French  commander  in  another  direction,  no  sooner 
presented  himself  before  the  walls,  than  he  was 
received  with  transports  of  joy  by  the  enthusiastic 
people.20 

20  Summonte,  Hist,  di  Napoli,  pp.  87,  88.  —  Villeneuve,  Me- 
tom.  vi.  p.  519.  —  Guicciardini,  moires,  apud  Petitot,  Collection 
Istoria,  lib.  2,  pp.  113,  114.  —  des  Memoires,  torn.  xiv.  pp.  201. 
Giovio,  Hist,  sui  Temporis,  lib.  3,  265. 


CAMPAIGNS  OF  GONSALVO. 


313 


The  French,  however,  though  excluded  from  the  chapter 
city,  by  making  a  circuit  effected  an  entrance  into  —  11 
the  fortresses  which  commanded  it.    From  these  recove»bi« 

capital. 

posts,  Montpensier  sorely  annoyed  the  town,  making 
frequent  attacks  on  it,  day  and  night,  at  the  head 
of  his  gendarmerie,  until  they  were  at  length 
checked  in  every  direction  by  barricades  which  the 
citizens  hastily  constructed  with  wagons,  casks  of 
stones,  bags  of  sand,  and  whatever  came  most 
readily  to  hand.  At  the  same  time,  the  windows, 
balconies,  and  house-tops  were  crowded  with  com- 
batants, who  poured  down  such  a  deadly  shower 
of  missiles  on  the  heads  of  the  French  •  as  finally 
compelled  them  to  take  shelter  in  their  defences. 
Montpensier  was  now  closely  besieged,  till  at 
length,  reduced  by  famine,  he  was  compelled  to 
capitulate.  Before  the  term  prescribed  for  his  sur- 
render had  arrived,  however,  he  effected  his  escape 
at  night,  by  water,  to  Salerno,  at  the  head  of 
twenty-five  hundred  men.  The  remaining  garrison, 
with  the  fortresses,  submitted  to  the  victorious  Fer- 
dinand, the  beginning  of  the  following  year.  And 
thus,  by  one  of  those  sudden  turns  which  belong  to 
the  game  of  war,  the  exiled  prince,  whose  fortunes 
a  few  weeks  before  appeared  perfectly  desperate, 
was  again  established  in  the  palace  of  his  ances- 
tors.21 

Montpensier  did  not  long  remain  in  his  new 
quarters.    He  saw  the  necessity  of  immediate  ac- 

21  Giovio,  Hist,  sui  Temporis,    -117.  —  Summonte,  Hist,  di  Na- 
lib.  3,  pp.  88-90,  114-  119.  —    poli,  torn.  vi.  pp.  520,  521. 
Guicciardini,  Istoria,  lib.  2,  pp.  114 

VOL.  II.  40 


314 


ITALIAN  WARS. 


part  tion,  to  counteract  the  alarming  progress  of  the 
- — ■ —  enemy.  He  quitted  Salerno  before  the  end  of 
winter,  strengthening  his  army  by  such  reinforce- 
ments as  he  could  collect  from  every  quarter  of  the 
country.  With  this  body,  he  directed  his  course 
towards  Apulia,  with  the  intention  of  bringing 
Ferdinand,  who  had  already  established  his  head- 
quarters there,  to  a  decisive  engagement.  Ferdi- 
nand's force,  however,  was  so  far  inferior  to  that  of 
his  antagonist,  as  to  compel  him  to  act  on  the  defen- 
sive, until  he  had  been  reinforced  by  a  considera- 
ble body  of  troops  from  Venice.  The  two  armies 
were  then  so  equally  matched,  that  neither  cared  to 
hazard  all  on  the  fate  of  a  battle  ;  and  the  cam- 
paign wasted  away  in  languid  operations,  which 
led  to  no  important  result. 
Gonsaivoin      In  the  mean  time,  Gonsalvo  de  Cordova  was 

Calabria. 

slowly  fighting  his  way  up  through  southern  Cala- 
bria. The  character  of  the  country,  rough  and 
mountainous,  like  the  Alpuxarras,  and  thickly  sprin- 
kled with  fortified  places,  enabled  him  to  bring  into 
play  the  tactics  which  he  had  learned  in  the  war 
of  Granada.  He  made  little  use  of  heavy-armed 
troops,  relying  on  his  ginetes,  and  still  more  on  his 
foot ;  taking  care,  however,  to  avoid  any  direct  en- 
counter with  the  dreaded  Swiss  battalions.  He 
made  amends  for  paucity  of  numbers  and  want 
of  real  strength,  by  rapidity  of  movement  and  the 
wily  tactics  of  Moorish  warfare;  darting  on  the 
enemy  where  least  expected,  surprising  his  strong- 
holds at  dead  of  night,  entangling  him  in  am- 
buscades, and  desolating  the  country  with  those 


CAMPAIGNS  OF  GONSALVO. 


315 


terrible  forays,  whose  effects  he  had  so  often  wit-  chapter 

nessed  on  the  fair  vegas  of  Granada.    He  adopted  — —  

the  policy  practised  by  his  master  Ferdinand  the 
Catholic  in  the  Moorish  war,  lenient  to  the  sub- 
missive foe,  but  wreaking  terrible  vengeance  on 
such  as  resisted.22 

The  French  were  sorely  disconcerted  by  these 
irregular  operations,  so  unlike  any  thing  to  which 
they  were  accustomed  in  European  warfare.  They 
were  further  disheartened  by  the  continued  illness 
of  D'Aubigny,  and  by  the  growing  disaffection  of 
the  Calabrians,  who  in  the  southern  provinces  con- 
tiguous to  Sicily  were  particularly  well  inclined  to 
Spain. 

Gonsalvo,  availing  himself  of  these  friendly  dis-  hmsuc- 

7  °  J  cesses. 

positions,  pushed  forward  his  successes,  carrying 
one  strong-hold  after  another,  until  by  the  end  of 
the  year  he  had  overrun  the  whole  of  Lower  Cala- 
bria. His  progress  would  have  been  still  more 
rapid  but  for  the  serious  embauassments  which  he 
experienced  from  want  of  supplies.  He  had  re- 
ceived some  reinforcements  from  Sicily,  but  very 
few  from  Spain ;  while  the  boasted  GaHcian  levies, 
instead  of  fifteen  hundred,  had  dwindled  to  scarcely 
three  hundred  men  ;  who  arrived  in  the  most  mis- 
erable plight,  destitute  of  clothing  and  munitions 
of  every  kind.  He  was  compelled  to  weaken  still 
further  his  inadequate  force  by  garrisoning  the  con- 
quered places,  most  of  which,  however,  he  was 

22  Bembo,  Istoria  Viniziana,  lib.  — Villeneuve,  Memoires,    313. — 

3,  pp.   173,  174. — Chronica  del  Sismondi,  Republiques  Italiennes, 

Gran  Capitan,  cap.  26. —  Giovio,  torn.  xii.  p.  386. 
Vita  Magni  Gonsalvi,  lib.  1,  p.  218. 


316 


ITALIAN  WARS. 


part  obliged  to  leave  without  any  defence  at  all.  In 
 addition  to  this,  he  was  so  destitute  of  the  neces- 
sary funds  for  the  payment  of  his  troops,  that  he 
was  detained  nearly  two  months  at  Nicastro,  until 
February,  1496,  when  he  received  a  remittance 
from  Spain.  After  this,  he  resumed  operations 
with  such  vigor,  that  by  the  end  of  the  following 
spring  he  had  reduced  all  Upper  Calabria,  with  the 
exception  of  a  small  corner  of  the  province,  in 
which  D'Aubigny  still  maintained  himself.  At  this 
crisis,  he  was  summoned  from  the  scene  of  his  con- 
quests to  the  support  of  the  king  of  Naples,  who 
lay  encamped  before  Atella,  a  town  intrenched 
among  the  Apennines,  on  the  western  borders  of 
the  Basilicate. 23 
rtven°ch  The  campaign  of  the  preceding  winter  had  ter- 
minated without  any  decisive  results,  the  two  ar- 
mies of  Montpensier  and  King  Ferdinand  having 
continued  in  sight  of  each  other,  without  ever 
coming  to  action.  These  protracted  operations 
were  fatal  to  the  French.  Their  few  supplies  were 
intercepted  by  the  peasantry  of  the  country  ;  their 
Swiss  and  German  mercenaries  mutinied  and  de- 
serted for  want  of  pay;  and  the  Neapolitans  in 
their  service  went  off  in  great  numbers,  disgusted 
with  the  insolent  and  overbearing  manners  of  their 
new  allies.  Charles  the  Eighth,  in  the  mean  while, 
was  wasting  his  hours  and  health  in  the  usual 
round  of  profligate  pleasures.    From  the  moment 

23  Zurita,  Hist,  del  Rey  Hernan-  Vita  Macjni  Gonsalvi,  lib.  1,  pp. 
do,  lib.  2,  cap.  11,  20.— Guicciar-  219,  220.  —  Chronica  del  Gran 
dini,  Istoria,  lib.  2,  p.  140.  — Giovio,    Capitan,  cap.  25,  26. 


CAMPAIGNS  OF  GONSALVO. 


317 


oi  recrossing  the  Alps  he  seemed  to  have  shut  out  chapter 
Italy  from  his  thoughts.  He  was  equally  insensible  — — — 
to  the  supplications  of  the  few  Italians  at  his  court, 
and  the  remonstrances  of  his  French  nobles,  many 
of  whom,  although  opposed  to  the  first  expedition, 
would  willingly  have  undertaken  a  second  to  sup- 
port their  brave  comrades,  whom  the  heedless  young 
monarch  now  abandoned  to  their  fate.24 

At  length  Montpensier,  finding  no  prospect  of 
relief  from  home,  and  straitened  by  the  want  of 
provisions,  determined  to  draw  off  from  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Benevento,  where  the  two  armies  lay 
encamped,  and  retreat  to  the  fruitful  province  of 
Apulia,  whose  principal  places  were  still  garrisoned 
by  the  French.  He  broke  up  his  camp  secretly  at 
dead  of  night,  and  gained  a  day's  march  on  his 
enemy,  before  the  latter  began  his  pursuit.  This 
Ferdinand  pushed  with  such  vigor,  however,  that 
he  overtook  the  retreating  army  at  the  town  of 
Atella,  and  completely  intercepted  its  further  pro- 
gress. This  town,  which,  as  already  noticed,  is 
situated  on  the  western  skirts  of  the  Basilicate,  lies 
in  a  broad  valley  encompassed  by  a  lofty  amphi- 
theatre of  hills,  through  which  flows  a  little  river, 


24  Guicciardini,  Istoria,  lib.  3, 
pp.  140,  157,  158.—  Comines,  Me- 
moires,  liv.  8, chap.  23,  24. —  Peter 
Martyr,  Opus  Epist.,  epist.  183. 

Du  lios  discriminates  between  the 
character  of*  the  German  levies  or 
landshrxchts  and  the  Swiss,  in  the 
following  terms.  "  Les  lansquenets 
etoient  ineme  de  beaucoup  mieux 
fails,  generalement  parlant,  et  de 
bien  meilleure  mine  sous  les  armes, 
que  les  lantassins  Suisses  ;  mais  ils 


etoient.  incapables  de  discipline.  Au 
contraire  des  Suisses,  ils  etoient 
sans  obeissance  pour  leur  chefs,  et 
sansamitie  pours  leurs  camarades." 
(Ligue  de  Cambray,  torn.  i.  dis- 
sert, prelim.  p.GG.)  Comines  con- 
firms the  distinction  with  a  high 
tribute  to  the  loyalty  of  the  Swiss, 
which  has  continued  their  hon- 
orable characteristic  to  the  present 
day.    Memoircs,  liv.  8,  chap.  21. 


ITALIAN  WARS. 


part     tributary  to  the  Ofanto,  watering  the  town,  and  turn- 

 . —  ing  several  mills  which  supplied  it  with  flour.  At 

a  few  miles'  distance  was  the  strong  place  of  Ripa 
Candida,  garrisoned  by  the  French,  through  which 
Montpensier  hoped  to  maintain  his  communications 
with  the  fertile  regions  of  the  interior. 
Ateiff.edin  Ferdinand,  desirous  if  possible  to  bring  the  war 
to  a  close,  by  the  capture  of  the  whole  French 
army,  prepared  for  a  vigorous  blockade.  He  dis- 
posed his  forces  so  as  to  intercept  supplies  by  com- 
manding the  avenues  to  the  town  in  every  direction. 
He  soon  found,  however,  that  his  army,  though 
considerably  stronger  than  his  rival's,  was  incom- 
petent to  this  without  further  aid.  He  accordingly 
resolved  to  summon  to  his  support  Gonsalvo  de 
Cordova,  the  fame  of  wrhose  exploits  now  resounded 
through  every  part  of  the  kingdom.25 

The  Spanish  general  received  Ferdinand's  sum- 
mons while  encamped  with  his  army  at  Castrovil- 
lari,  in  the  north  of  Upper  Calabria.  If  he  com- 
plied with  it,  he  saw  himself  in  danger  of  losing 
all  the  fruits  of  his  long  campaign  of  victories ; .  for 
his  active  enemy  would  not  fail  to  profit  by  his 
absence  to  repair  his  losses.  If  he  refused  obe- 
dience, however,  it  might  defeat  the  most  favora- 
ble opportunity  which  had  yet  presented  itself  for 
bringing  the  war  to  a  close.  He  resolved,  there- 
fore, at  once  to  quit  the  field  of  his  triumphs,  and 
march  to  King  Ferdinand's  relief.    But,  before  his 

25  Giovio,  Vita  Magni  Gonsalvi,  226.  —  Bembo,  Istoria  Viniziana, 

lib.  1,  pp.  218,  219.  — Chronica  lib.  3,  p.  184.  —  Guicciardini,  Jsto- 

del  Gran  Capitan,  cap.  28.  —  Quin-  ria,  lib.  3,  p.  158. 
tana,  Espailoles  Celebres,  torn.  i.  p. 


CAMPAIGNS  OF  GONSALVO. 


319 


departure,  he  prepared  to  strike  sueh  a  blow  as  chapteb 
should,  if  possible,  incapacitate  his  enemy  for  any  _ 
effectual  movement  during  his  absence. 

He   received   intelligence  that  a  considerable  bonsai™ 

o  surprises 

number  of  Angevin  lords,  mostly  of  the  powerful  Lainu* 
house  of  San  Severino,  with  their  vassals  and  a  re- 
inforcement of  French  troops,  were  assembled  at 
the  little  town  of  Laino,  on  the  northwestern  bor- 
ders of  Upper  Calabria ;  where  they  lay  awaiting  a 
junction  with  D'Aubigny.  Gonsalvo  determined 
to  surprise  this  place,  and  capture  the  rich  spoils 
wThich  it  contained,  before  his  departure.  His  road 
lay  through  a  wild  and  mountainous  country.  The 
passes  were  occupied  by  the  Calabrian  peasantry  in 
the  interest  of  the  Angevin  party.  The  Spanish 
general,  however,  found  no  difficulty  in  forcing  a 
way  through  this  undisciplined  rabble,  a  large  body 
of  whom  he  surrounded  and  cut  to  pieces,  as  they 
lay  in  ambush  for  him  in  the  valley  of  Murano. 
Laino,  whose  base  is  washed  by  the  waters  of  the 
Lao,  was  defended  by  a  strong  castle  built  on  the 
opposite  side  of  the  river,  and  connected  by  a 
bridge  with  the  town.  All  approach  to  the  place 
by  the  high  road  was  commanded  by  this  fortress. 
Gonsalvo  obviated  this  difficulty,  however,  by  a  cir- 
cuitous route  across  the  mountains.  He  marched 
all  night,  and  fording  the  waters  of  the  Lao  about 
two  miles  above  the  town,  entered  it  with  his  little 
army  before  break  of  day,  having  previously  de- 
tached a  small  corps  to  take  possession  of  the 
bridge.  The  inhabitants,  startled  from  their  slum- 
bers by  the  unexpected  appearance  of  the  enemy  in 


320 


ITALIAN  WARS. 


part     their  streets,  hastily  seized  their  arms  and  made  for 

  the  castle  on  the  other  side  of  the  river.    The  pass, 

however,  was  occupied  by  the  Spaniards ;  and  the 
Neapolitans  and  French,  hemmed  in  on  every  side, 
began  a  desperate  resistance,  which  terminated  with 
the  death  of  their  chief,  Americo  San  Severino,  and 
the  capture  of  such  of  his  followers  as  did  not  fall 
in  the  melee.  A  rich  booty  fell  into  the  hands  of 
the  victors.  The  most  glorious  prize,  however,  was 
the  Angevin  barons,  twenty  in  number,  whom  Gon- 
salvo,  after  the  action,  sent  prisoners  to  Naples. 
This  decisive  blow,  whose  tidings  spread  like  wild- 
fire throughout  the  country,  settled  the  fate  of  Cala- 
bria. It  struck  terror  into  the  hearts  of  the  French, 
and  crippled  them  so  far  as  to  leave  Gonsalvo  little 
cause  for  anxiety  during  his  proposed  absence.26 

?Ate«£  The  Spanish  general  lost  no  time  in  pressing  for- 
ward on  his  march  towards  Atella.  Before  quitting 
Calabria  he  had  received  a  reinforcement  of  five 
hundred  soldiers  from  Spain,  and  his  whole  Spanish 
forces,  according  to  Giovio,  amounted  to  one  hun- 
dred men-at-arms,  five  hundred  light  cavalry,  and 
two  thousand  foot,  picked  men,  and  well  schooled 
in  the  hardy  service  of  the  late  campaign.27  Al- 
though a  great  part  of  his  march  lay  through  a  hos- 
tile country,  he  encountered  little  opposition  ;  for 
the  terror  of  his  name,  says  the  writer  last  quoted, 
had  everywhere  gone  before  him.    He  arrived  be- 

26  Giovio,  Vita  Magni  Gonsalvi,  ciardini,  Istoria,  lib.  3,  pp.  158, 

pp.  219,  220. —  Chronica  del  Gran  159.  —  Mariana,  Hist,  de  Espaiia, 

Capital), cap. 27. —  Zurita, Hist. del  torn.  ii.  lib.  2G,  cap.  12. 

Rey  Hernando,  torn.  i.  lib.  2,  cap.  27  Giovio,  Hist,  del  Rey  Her- 

2G.  —  Quintana,  Espafioles  Cele-  nando,  lib.  4,  p.  132. 
bres,  torn.  i.  pp.  227,  228. — Guic- 


CAMPAIGNS  OF  GOXSALYO. 


321 


fore  Atella  at  the  beginning  of  July.    The  king  chapter 

of  Naples  was  no  sooner  advised  of  his  approach,   : — 

than  he  marched  out  of  the  camp,  attended  by  the 
Venetian  general,  the  marquis  of  Mantua,  and 
the  papal  legate,  Caesar  Borgia,  to  receive  him. 
All  were  eager  to  do  honor  to  the  man,  who  had 
achieved  such  brilliant  exploits  ;  who,  in  less  than 
a  year,  had  made  himself  master  of  the  larger  part 
of  the  kingdom  of  Naples,  and  that,  with  the  most 
limited  resources,  in  defiance  of  the  bravest  and 
best  disciplined  soldiery  in  Europe.  It  was  then,  Revives tiw 
according  to  the  Spanish  writers,  that  he  was  by  gJJ^  ' 
general  consent  greeted  with  the  title  of  the  Great 
Captain ;  by  which  he  is  much  more  familiarly 
known  in  Spanish,  and,  it  may  be  added,  in  most 
histories  of  the  period,  than  by  his  own  name.28 


^Quintana,  Espafioles  Celebres, 
torn.  i.  p.  228.  —  Giovio,  Vita 
Magni  Gonsalvi,  lib.  1,  p.  220. 

The  Aragonese  historians  are 
much  ruffled  by  the  irreverent  man- 
ner in  which  Guicciardini  notices 
the  origin  of  the  cognomen  of  the 
Great  Captain  ;  which  even  his 
subsequent  panegyric  cannot  atone 
for.  "  Era  capitano  Consalvo  Er- 
nandes,  di  casa  d'  Aghilar,  di  patria 
Cordovese,  uomo  di  molto  valore, 
ed  esercitato  lungamente  nolle 
guerre  di  Granata,  il  quale  nel 
principio  della  venuta  sua  in  Italia, 
cognominato  dalla  jattanza  Spa- 
gnuota  il  Gran  Capitano,  per  signi- 
ficant con  questo  titolo  la  suprema 
podesta  sopra  loro,  merito  per  le 
preclare  vittorie  clie  ebbe  dipoi,  che 
per  consentimento  universale  gli 
fosse  confermatoe  perpetuato  ques- 
to sopranome,  per  iignificazione  di 
virtu  grande,  e  di  grande  ecceHen- 
za  nella  disciplina  militare."  (Is- 
toria,  torn.  i.  p.  112.)  According 


to  Zurita,  the  title  was  not  confer- 
red till  the  Spanish  general's  ap- 
pearance before  Atella,  and  the  first 
example  of  its  formal  recognition 
was  in  the  instrument  of  capitula- 
tion at  that  place.  (Hist,  del  Roy 
Hernando,  lib.  2,  cap.  27.)  This 
seems  to  derive  support  from  the 
fact  that  Gonsalvo's  biographer  and 
contemporary,  Giovio,  begins  to 
distinguish  him  by  that  epithet  from 
this  period .  Abarca  assigns  a  high- 
er antiquity  to  it,  quoting  the  words 
of  the  royal  grant  of  the  duchy  of 
Sessa,  made  to  Gonsalvo,  as  au- 
thority. (Reyes  de  Aragon,  rey 
39,  cap.  9.)  In  a  former  edition,  I 
intimated  my  doubt  of  the  histori- 
an's accuracy.  A  subsequent  in- 
spection of  the  instrument  itself,  in 
a  work  since  come  into  my  pos- 
session, shows  this  distrust  to 
have  been  well  founded  ;  for  it  is 
there  simply  said,  that  the  title  was 
conferred  in  Italy.  Pulgar,  Suma- 
rio,  p.  138. 


VOT  II. 


41 


ITALIAN  WARS. 


part        Gonsalvo  found  the  French  sorely  distressed  by 

 !       the  blockade,  which  was  so  strictly  maintained  as 

|chmeuteof  to  allow  few  supplies  from  abroad  to  pass  into  the 
town.  His  quick  eye  discovered,  at  once,  howev- 
er, that  in  order  to  render  it  perfectly  effectual,  it 
would  be  necessary  to  destroy  the  mills  in  the 
vicinity,  which  supplied  Atella  with  flour.  He  un- 
dertook this,  on  the  day  of  his  arrival,  at  the  head 
of  his  own  corps.  Montpensier,  aware  of  the 
importance  of  these  mills,  had  stationed  a  strong 
guard  for  their  defence,  consisting  of  a  body  of 
Gascon  archers,  and  the  Swiss  pikemen.  Although 
the  Spaniards  had  never  been  brought  into  direct 
collision  with  any  large  masses  of  this  formidable 
infantry,  yet  occasional  rencontres  with  small  de- 
tachments, and  increased  familiarity  with  its  tactics, 
had  stripped  it  of  much  of  its  terrors.  Gonsalvo 
had  even  so  far  profited  by  the  example  of  the 
Swiss,  as  to  strengthen  his  infantry  by  mingling 
the  long  pikes  with  the  short  swords  and  bucklers 
if  the  Spaniards.29 

He  made  two  divisions  of  his  cavalry,  posting 
his  handful  of  heavy-armed,  with  some  of  the  light 
horse,  so  as  to  check  any  sally  from  the  town,  while 
he  destined  the  remainder  to  support  the  infantry 
in  the  attack  upon  the  enemy.  Having  made 
these  arrangements,  the  Spanish  chieftain  led  on 
his  men  confidently  to  the  charge.  The  Gascon 
archery,  however,  seized  with  a  panic,  scarcely 

29  This  was  improving  on  the  armed  with  short  weapons  after  the 

somewhat  similar  expedient  ascrib-  Roman  fashion,  with  those  of  his 

ed  by  Polybius  to  King  Pyrrhus,  Macedonian  spearmen.    Lib.  17, 

who   mingled   alternate  cohorts,  sec.  24. 


CAMPAIGNS  OF  GONSALVO. 


323 


awaited  his  approach,  but  fled  shamefully,  before  chapter 

they  had  time  to  discharge  a  second  volley  of  ar-  J  

rows,  leaving  the  battle  to  the  Swiss.  These  lat- 
ter, exhausted  by  the  sufferings  of  the  siege,  and 
dispirited  by  long  reverses,  and  by  the  presence  of 
a  new  and  victorious  foe,  did  not  behave  with  their 
wonted  intrepidity,  but,  after  a  feeble  resistance, 
abandoned  their  position,  and  retreated  towards 
the  city.  Gonsalvo,  having  gained  his  object,  did 
not  care  to  pursue  the  fugitives,  but  instantly 
set  about  demolishing  the  mills,  every  vestige  of 
which,  in  a  few  hours,  was  swept  from  the  ground. 
Three  days  after,  he  supported  the  Neapolitan 
troops  in  an  assault  on  Ripa  Candida,  and  carried 
that  important  post,  by  means  of  which  Atella 
maintained  a  communication  with  the  interior. 30 

Thus  cut  off  from  all  their  resources,  and  no  capitulation 

of  Mont  pea- 
longer  cheered  by  hopes  of  succour  from  their  own  8ier- 

country,  the  French,  after  suffering  the  severest 
privations,  and  being  reduced  to  the  most  loathsome 
aliment  for  subsistence,  made  overtures  for  a  ca- 
pitulation. The  terms  were  soon  arranged  with 
the  king  of  Naples,  who  had  no  desire  but  to  rid 
his  country  of  the  invaders.  It  was  agreed,  that, 
if  the  French  commander  did  not  receive  assist- 
ance in  thirty  days,  he  should  evacuate  Atella, 
and  cause  every  place  holding  under  him  in  the 
kingdom  of  Naples,  with  all  its  artillery,  to  be  sur- 

30  Giovio,  Hist,  sui  Temporis,  itan,  cap.  28.  —  Quintana,  Espa- 

lib.  4,  p.  133.  —  Idem,  Vita  Magni  Holes  Cclebres,  torn.  i.  p.  229. — 

Gonsalvi,  pp.  220,  221.  —  Zurita,  Abarca,  Reyes  de  Aragon,  rey  30, 

Hisf.  del  Rey  Hernando,  lib.  2,  cap.  9. 
cap,  27.  —  Chronica  del  Gran  Cap- 


324 


ITALIAN  WARS. 


art  rendered  to  King  Ferdinand  ;  and  that,  on  these 
n 

 .  conditions,  his  soldiers  should  be  furnished  with 

vessels  to  transport  them  back  to  France  ;  that  the 
foreign  mercenaries  should  be  permitted  to  return 
to  their  own  homes  ;  and  that  a  general  amnesty 
should  be  extended  to  such  Neapolitans  as  return- 
ed to  their  allegiance  in  fifteen  days.31 

Such  were  the  articles  of  capitulation,  signed  on 
the  21st  of  July,  1496,  which  Comines,  who  re- 
ceived the  tidings  at  the  court  of  France,  does  not 
hesitate  to  denounce  as  61  a  most  disgraceful  treaty, 
without  parallel,  save  in  that  made  by  the  Roman 
consuls  at  the  Caudine  Forks,  which  was  too  dis- 
honorable to  be  sanctioned  by  their  countrymen." 
The  reproach  is  certainly  unmerited  ;  and  comes 
with  ill  grace  from  a  court,  which  was  wasting 
in  riotous  indulgence  the  very  resources  indispen- 
sable to  the  brave  and  loyal,  subjects,  w7ho  were 
endeavouring  to  maintain  its  honor  in  a  foreign 
land.32 

Unfortunately  Montpensier  was  unable  to  enforce 
the  full  performance  of  his  own  treaty ;  as  many 
of  the  French  refused  to  deliver  up  the  places  in- 
trusted to  them,  under  the  pretence  that  their  au- 
thority was  derived,  not  from  the  viceroy,  but  from 
the  king  himself.  During  the  discussion  of  this 
point,  the  French  troops  were  removed  to  Baia  and 
Pozzuolo,  and  the  adjacent  places  on  the  coast. 
The  unhealthiness  of  the  situation,  together  with 

31  Villeneuve,  Memoires,  p.  318.       32  Comines,  Memoires,  liv.  8, 
—  Comines,  Memoires,  liv.  8,  chap.    chap.  21. 
21.  —  Giovio,  Hist,  sui  Temporis, 
lib.  4,  p.  136. 


Miserable 
state  of  the 
French. 


CAMPAIGNS  OF  GONSALVO. 


325 


that  of  the  autumnal  season,  and  an  intemperate  chapter 
indulgence  in  fruits  and  wine,  soon  brought  on  an  — — — ■ 
epidemic  among  the  soldiers,  which  swept  them  off 
in  great  numbers.  The  gallant  Montpensier  was 
one  of  the  first  victims.  He  refused  the  earnest 
solicitations  of  his  brother-in-law,  the  marquis  of 
Mantua,  to  quit  his  unfortunate  companions,  and 
retire  to  a  place  of  safety  in  the  interior.  The 
shore  was  literally  strewed  with  the  bodies  of  the 
dying  and  the  dead.  Of  the  whole  number  of 
Frenchmen,  amounting  to  not  less  than  five  thou- 
sand, who  marched  out  of  Atella,  not  more  than 
five  hundred  ever  reached  their  native  country. 
The  Swiss  and  other  mercenaries  were  scarcely 
more  fortunate.  "  They  made  their  way  back  as 
thej  could  through  Italy,"  says  a  writer  of  the 
period,  "  in  the  most  deplorable  state  of  destitution 
and  suffering,  the  gaze  of  ail,  and  a  sad  example 
of  the  caprice  of  fortune."33  Such  was  the  misera- 
ble fate  of  that  brilliant  and  formidable  array,  which 
scarcely  two  years  before  had  poured  down  on  the 
fair  fields  of  Italy  in  all  the  insolence  of  expected 
conquest.  Well  would  it  be,  if  the  name  of  every 
conqueror,  whose  successes,  though  built  on  human 
misery,  are  so  dazzling  to  the  imagination,  could 
be  made  to  point  a  moral  for  the  instruction  of  his 
species,  as  effectually  as  that  of  Charles  the  Eighth. 

The  young  king  of  Naples  did  not  live  long  to  J^a°nfd 
enjoy  his  triumphs.    On  his  return  from  Atella,  he  ofNaPto* 

33  Giovio,  Hist,  sui  Ternporis,  dim,  Istoria,  lib.  3,  p.  160.  —  Ville- 

p.  137.  —  Comities,  Memoirus,  liv.  neuve,  Memoires,   apud  Petitoi, 

8,  chap.  21.  —  Giovio,  Vita  Mao-ni  torn.  xiv.  p,  318. 
Gonsam,  lib.  1,  p.  221.  —  Guicciar- 


326 


ITALIAN  WARS. 


part     contracted  an  inauspicious  marriage  with  his  aunt, 
■  —  a  lady  nearly  of  his  own  age,  to  whom  he  had  been 
long  attached.    A  careless  and  somewhat  intem- 
perate indulgence  in  pleasure,  succeeding  the  hardy 
life  which  he  had  been  lately  leading,  brought  on  a 
1  4  96.    flux  which  carried  him  off  in  the  twenty-eighth 
feq  t" 7*    year  of  his  age,  and  second  of  his  reign.    He  was 
the  fifth  monarch,  who,  in  the  brief  compass  of 
three  years,  had  sat  on  the  disastrous  throne  of 
Naples. 

Ferdinand  possessed  many  qualities  suited  to  the 
turbulent  times  in  which  he  lived.  He  was  vigor- 
ous and  prompt  in  action,  and  naturally  of  a  high 
and  generous  spirit.  Still,  however,  he  exhibited 
glimpses,  even  in  his  last  hours,  of  an  obliquity,  not 
to  say  ferocity  of  temper,  which  characterized  many 
of  his  line,  and  which  led  to  ominous  conjectures 
as  to  what  would  have  been  his  future  policy. 34 
Accession  of  He  was  succeeded  on  the  throne  by  his  uncle 

Frederic  11.  •/ 

Frederic,  a  prince  of  a  gentle  disposition,  endeared 
to  the  Neapolitans  by  repeated  acts  of  benevolence, 
and  by  a  magnanimous  regard  for  justice,  of  which 
the  remarkable  fluctuations  of  his  fortune  had  elicited 
more  than  one  example.  His  amiable  virtues,  how- 
ever, required  a  kindlier  soil  and  season  for  their 
expansion ;  and,  as  the  event  proved,  made  him  no 

34  Giannone,  Istoria  di  Napoli,  the  Bishop  of  Teano,  to  be  brought 

lib.  29,  cap.  2. —  Summonte,  Hist,  to  him,  and  laid  at  the  foot  of  his 

di  Napoli,  lib.  6,  cap.  2.  — Peter  couch,  that  he  might  be  assured 

Martyr,  Opus  Epist.,  epist.  188.  with  his  own  eyes  of  the  execution 

While  stretched  on  his  deathbed,  of  the  sentence.    Istoria  Viniziana, 

Ferdinand,  according  to  Bembo,  lib.  3,  p.  189. 
caused  the  head  of  his  prisoner. 


CAMPAIGNS  OF  GONSALVO. 


327 


match  for  the  subtile  and  unscrupulous  politicians  chapter 

of  the  age.   

His  first  act  was  a  general  amnesty  to  the  disaf- 
fected Neapolitans,  who  felt  such  confidence  in  his 
good  faith,  that  they  returned,  with  scarcely  an 
exception,  to  their  allegiance.  His  next  measure 
was  to  request  the  aid  of  Gonsalvo  de  Cordova  in 
suppressing  the  hostile  movements  made  by  the 
French  during  his  absence  from  Calabria.  At  tlie 
name  of  the  Great  Captain,  the  Italians  flocked 
from  all  quarters,  to  serve  without  pay  under  a 
banner,  which  was  sure  to  lead  them  to  victory. 
Tower  and  town,  as  he  advanced,  went  down  be- 
fore him:  and  the  French  general,  D'Aubi<rny,  soon  Total  expui- 

7  °  '  °   /  sion  of  the 

saw  himself  reduced  to  the  necessity  of  making  the  rrencl1- 
best  terms  he  could  with  his  conqueror,  and  evacu- 
ating the  province  altogether.  The  submission  of 
Calabria  was  speedily  followed  by  that  of  the  few 
remaining  cities  in  other  quarters,  still  garrisoned 
by  the  French ;  comprehending  the  last  rood  of 
territory  possessed  by  Charles  the  Eighth  in  the 
kingdom  of  Naples.35 

35  Giovio,  Hist,  sui  Temporis,  — Guicciardini,  Istoria,  lib.  3,  p. 
lib.  4,  p.  139.  —  Zurita,  Hist,  del  160.  —  Giannone,  Istoria  di  Napoli, 
Rey  Hernando,  lib.  2,  cap.  30,  33.    torn.  iii.  lib.  29,  cap.  3. 


Our  narrative  now  leads  us  on  the 
oeaten  track  of  Italian  history.  I 
have  endeavoured  to  make  the 
reader  acquainted  with  the  peculiar 
2haracter  and  pretensions  of  the 
principal  Spanish  authorities,  on 
whom  I  have  relied  in  the  progress 
of  the  work.  This  would  be  su- 
perfluous in  regard  to  the  Italian, 


who  enjoy  the  rank  of  classics, 
not  only  in  their  own  country,  but 
throughout  Europe,  and  have  fur- 
nished the  earliest  models  among 
the  moderns  of  historic  composi- 
tion.    Fortunately,   two   of   the  Remarks  nn 
most  eminent  of  them,  Guicciardini  Guicciardiiii 
and  Paolo  Giovio,  lived  at  the  pe-  and  G|0V1° 
riod  of  our  narrative,  and  have 


328 


ITALIAN  WARS. 


PART      embraced  the  whole  extent  of  it  in 
u         their  histories.   These  two  writers, 

  besides  the  attractions  of  elegant 

scholarship,  and  talent,  occupied  a 
position  which  enabled  them  to 
take  a  clear  view  of  all  die  prin- 
cipal political  movements  of  their 
age ;  circumstances,  which  have 
made  their  accounts  of  infinite  value 
in  respect  to  foreign  transactions, 
as  well  as  domestic.  Guicciardini 
was  a  conspicuous  actor  in  the 
scenes  he  describes ;  and  a  long 
residence  at  the  court  of  Ferdinand 
the  Catholic  opened  to  him  the 
most  authentic  sources  of  informa- 
tion in  regard  to  Spain.  Giovio, 
from  his  intimate  relations  with  the 
principal  persons  of  his  time,  had 
also  access  to  the  best  sources  of 
knowledge,  while  in  the  notice  of 
foreign  transactions  he  was  but 
Sismoidi.  little  exposed  to  those  venal  influ- 
ences, which  led  him  too  often  to 
employ  the  golden  or  iron  pen  of 
history  as  interest  dictated.  Un- 
fortunately, a  lamentable  hiatus 
occurs  in  his  greatest  work,  "  His- 
torian sui  Temporis,"  embracing  the 
whole  period  intervening  between 
the  end  of  Charles  VIII. 's  expedi- 
tion and  the  accession  of  Leo  X., 
in  1513.  At  the  time  of  the  memo- 
rable sack  of  Rome  by  the  Duke  of 
Bourbon,  in  1527,  Giovio  deposited 
his  manuscript,  with  a  quantity  of 
plate,  in  an  iron  chest,  which  he 
hid  in  an  obscure  corner  of  the 
church  of  Santa  Maria  sopra  Mi- 
nerva. The  treasure,  however,  did 
not  escape  the  searching  eyes  of 
two  Spanish  soldiers,  who  broke 
open  the  chest,  and  one  of  them 
seized  on  the  plate,  regarding  the 
papers  as  of  no  value.  The  other, 
not  being  quite  such  a  fool,  says 
Giovio,  preserved  such  of  the  man- 
uscripts as  were  on  vellum,  and 
ornamented  with  rich  bindings,  but 
threw  away  what  was  written  on 
paper. 

The  part  thus  thrown  away  con- 
tained six  books,  relating  to  the 
period  above  mentioned,  which  were 
never  afterwards  recovered.  The 
soldier  brought  the  remainder  to 


their  author,  who  bought  them  at 
the  price  of  a  vacant  benefice,  which 
he  persuaded  the  pope  to  confer  on 
the  freebooter,  in  his  native  land 
of  Cordova.  It  is  not  often  that 
simony  has  found  so  good  an  apolo- 
gy. The  deficiency,  although  never 
repaired  by  Giovio,  was  in  some 
degree  supplied  by  his  biographies 
of  eminent  men,  and,  among  others, 
by  that  of  Gonsalvo  de  Cordova,  in 
which  he  has  collected  with  great  in- 
dustry all  the  events  of  any  interest 
in  the  life  of  this  great  commander. 
The  narrative  is  in  general  cor- 
roborated by  the  Spanish  authori- 
ties, and  contains  some  additional 
particulars,  especially  respecting  his 
early  life,  which  Giovio's  personal 
intimacy  with  the  principal  charac- 
ters of  the  period  might  easily  have 
furnished. 

This  portion  of  our  story  is, 
moreover,  illustrated  by  the  labors 
of  M.  Sismondi,  in  his  "  Repub- 
liques  Italiennes,"  which  may  un- 
doubtedly claim  to  be  ranked  among 
the  most  remarkable  historical 
achievements  of  our  time;  whether 
we  consider  the  dexterous  manage- 
ment of  the  narrative,  or  the  admi- 
rable spirit  of  philosophy  by  which 
it  is  illumined.  It  must  be  ad- 
mitted, that  he  has  perfectly  suc- 
ceeded in  unravelling  the  intricate 
web  of  Italian  politics;  and,  not- 
withstanding the  complicated,  and, 
indeed,  motley  character  of  his  sub- 
ject, the  historian  has  left  a  uniform 
and  harmonious  impression  on  the 
mind  of  the  reader.  This  he  has 
accomplished,  by  keeping  constant- 
ly in  view  the  principle  which  regu- 
lated all  the  various  movements  of 
the  complex  machinery ;  so  that 
his  narrative  becomes,  what  he 
terms  it  in  his  English  abridgment, 
a  history  of  Italian  liberty.  By 
keeping  this  principle  steadily  be- 
fore him,  he  has  been  able  to  solve 
much  that  hitherto  was  dark  and 
problematical  in  his  subject;  and, 
if  he  has  occasionally  sacrificed 
something  to  theory,  he  has.  on  the 
whole,  pursued  the  investigation  in 
a  truly  philosophical  manner,  and 


CAMPAIGNS  OF  GONSALVO. 


329 


arrived  at  results  the  most  honora- 
ble, and  cheering  to  humanity. 

Fortunately,  his  own  mind  was 
deeply  penetrated  with  reverence 
for  the  free  institutions,  which  he 
has  analyzed.  If  it  is  too  much  to 
say,  that  the  historian  of  republics 
shou'.d  be  himself  a  republican,  it 
is  at  least  true,  that  his  soul  should 
be  penetrated  to  its  very  depths 
with  the  spirit  which  animates 
them.  No  one,  who  is  not  smitten 
with  the  love  of  freedom,  can  fur- 
nish the  key  to  much  that  is  enig- 
matical in  her  character,  and  rec- 
oncile his  readers  to  the  harsh 
and  repulsive  features,  that  she 
sometimes  wears,  by  revealing  the 


beauty  and  grandeur  of  the  soul  chapter 
within.  n. 

That  portion  ftf  our  narrative  

which  is  incorporated  with  Italian 
story,  is  too  small  to  occupy  much 
space  on  Sismondi's  plan.  He  has 
discussed  it,  moreover,  in  a  manner 
not  very  favorable  to  the  Spaniards, 
whom  he  seems  to  have  regarded 
with  somewhat  of  the  aversion, 
with  which  an  Italian  of  the  six- 
teenth century  viewed  the  ultra- 
montane barbarians  of  Europe. 
Perhaps  the  reader  may  find  some 
advantage  in  contemplating  another 
side  of  the  picture,  and  studying 
the  less  familiar  details  presented 
by  the  Spanish  authorities. 


VOL.  Ii. 


42 


CHAPTER  III. 


ITALIAN  WARS.  —  GONSALVO  SUCCOURS  THE  POPE.  —  TREAT Y 
WITH  FRANCE.  — ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  SPANISH  MILITIA. 

1496—1498. 

Gonsalvo  Succours  the  Pope.  —  Storms  Ostia.  —  Reception  in  Home. 
—  Peace  with  France. — Ferdinand's  Reputation  advanced  by  his 
Conduct  in  the  War. — Organization  of  the  Militia. 

part        It  had  been  arranged  by  the  treaty  of  Venice, 

 ■ —  that,  while  the  allies  were  carrying  on  the  war  in 

Keillor  Naples,  the  emperor  elect  and  the  king  of  Spain 
should  make  a  diversion  in  their  favor,  by  invading 
the  French  frontiers.  Ferdinand  had  performed 
his  part  of  the  engagement.  Ever  since  the  be- 
ginning of  the  war,  he  had  maintained  a  large 
force  along  the  borders  from  Fontarabia  to  Perpi- 
gnan.  In  1496,  the  regular  army  kept  in  pay 
amounted  to  ten  thousand  horse  and  fifteen  thousand 
foot ;  which,  together  with  the  Sicilian  armament, 
necessarily  involved  an  expenditure  exceedingly 
heavy  under  the  financial  pressure  occasioned  by 
the  Moorish  war.  The  command  of  the  levies  in 
Roussillon  was  given  to  Don  Enrique  Enriquez  de 
Guzman,  who,  far  from  acting  on  the  defensive, 
carried  his  men  repeatedly  over  the  border,  sweep- 
ing off  fifteen  or  twenty  thousand  head  of  cattle  in 


GUNSALVO  SUCCOURS  THE  POPE. 


331 


a  single  foray,  and  ravaging  the  country  as  far  as  chapter 
Carcassona  and  Narbonne.1  The  French,  who  had  — 
concentrated  a  considerable  force  in  the  south,  re- 
taliated by  similar  inroads,  in  one  of  which  they 
succeeded  in  surprising  the  fortified  town  of  Salsas. 
The  works,  however,  were  in  so  dilapidated  a  state, 
that  the  place  was  scarcely  tenable,  and  it  was 
abandoned  on  the  approach  of  the  Spanish  army. 
A.  truce  soon  followed,  which  put  an  end  to  further 
operations  in  that  quarter. 2 

The  submission  of  Calabria  seemed  to  leave  no 
further  occupation  for  the  arms  of  the  Great  Cap- 
tain in  Italy.  Before  quitting  that  country,  howev- 
er, he  engaged  in  an  adventure,  which,  as  narrated 
by  his  biographers,  forms  a  brilliant  episode  to  his 
regular  campaigns.  Ostia,  the  seaport  of  Rome, 
was,  among  the  places  in  the  papal  territory,  forci- 
bly occupied  by  Charles  the  Eighth,  and  on  his 
retreat  had  been  left  to  a  French  garrison  under 
the  command  of  a  Biscayan  adventurer  named  Me- 
naldo  Guerri.  The  place  was  so  situated  as  entire- 
ly to  command  the  mouth  of  the  Tiber,  enabling 
the  piratical  horde  who  garrisoned  it  almost  wholly 
to  destroy  the  commerce  of  Rome,  and  even  to 
reduce  the  city  to  great  distress  for  want  of  provis- 


1  Zurita,  Hist,  del  Rey  Hernan- 
do, lib.  2,  cap.  12-14,  16,  24. 

Giovio  says,  in  allusion  to  King 
Ferdinand's  show  of  preparation  on 
the  frontier,  "  Ferdinandus,  maxi- 
ma cautus  et  pecuniae  tenax,  spe- 
ciem  ingentis  coacti  exercitus  ad 
deterrendos  hostes  praebere,  quam 
bellum  gerere  mallet,  quum  id  sine 
ingenti  pecunia  administran  non 


posse  intelligent."  Hist,  sui  Tem- 
poris,  p.  140. 

2  Zurita,  Hist,  del  Rey  Hernan- 
do, lib.  2,  cap.  35,  36. — Abarca, 
Reyes  de  Aragon,  rey  30,  cap.  9. 
—  Garibay,  Compendio,  turn.  ii. 
lib.  19,  cap.  5. — Comines,  Me- 
moires,  liv.  8,  chap.  23. —  Peter 
Martyr,  Opus  Epist.,  epist  169. 


ITALIAN  WARS. 


part    ions.    The  imbecile  government,  incapable  of  de- 
fending itself,  implored  Gonsalvo's  aid  in  dislodging 

Til,;  pope  . 

SfeJiSuJi  this  nest  of  formidable  freebooters.  The  Spanish 
ge  neral,  who  was  now  at  leisure,  complied  with  the 
pontiff's  solicitations,  and  soon  after  presented  him- 
self before  Ostia  with  his  little  corps  of  troops, 
amounting  in  all  to  three  hundred  horse  and  fifteen 
hundred  foot.3 

storming         Guerri,  trusting  to  the  strength  of  his  defences, 

iiini  cap  ton  '  o  o  7 

oiosua.  refused  to  surrender.  Gonsalvo,  after  coolly  pre- 
paring his  batteries,  opened  a  heavy  cannonade  on 
the  place,  which  at  the  end  of  five  days  effected  a 
practicable  breach  in  the  walls.  In  the  mean  time, 
Garcilasso  de  la  Vega,  the  Castilian  ambassador  at 
the  papal  court,  who  could  not  bear  to  remain  inac- 
tive so  near  the  field  where  laurels  were  to  be  won, 
arrived  to  Gonsalvo's  support,  with  a  handful  of  his 
own  countrymen  resident  in  Rome.  This  gallant 
little  band,  scaling  the  walls  on  the  opposite  side  to 
that  assailed  by  Gonsalvo,  effected  an  entrance  into 
the  town,  while  the  garrison  was  occupied  with 
maintaining  the  breach  against  the  main  body  of 
the  Spaniards.  Thus  surprised,  and  hemmed  in 
on  both  sides,  Guerri  and  his  associates  made  no 
further  resistance,  but  surrendered  themselves  pris- 
oners of  war  ;  and  Gonsalvo,  with  more  clemency 
than  was  usually  shown  on  such  occasions,  stopped 
the  carnage,  and  reserved  his  captives  to  grace  his 
entry  into  the  capital.4 

3  Giovio,  Vita  Ma^ni  Gonsalvi,  —  Villeneuve,  Memoires,  p.  317. 
lib.  I,  p.  221.  —  Chronica  del  Gran       4  Giovio,  Vita  Magni  Gonsnlvi. 

Capitan,  cap.  30.  —  Zurita,  Hist.  p.  222.  —  Qnintana,  Espailoles  (Je- 

dei  Iley  Hernando,  lib.  3,  cap.  1.  lebres,  torn.  i.  p.  234. 


GONSALVO  SUCCOURS  THE  TOPE. 


333 


This  was  made  a  few  days  after,  with  all  the  chamisr 

pomp  of  a  Roman  triumph.    The  Spanish  general  !_  

entered  by  the  gate  of  Ostia,  at  the  head  of  his  SSiBomeT' 
martial  squadrons  in  battle  array,  with  eolors  flying 
and  music  playing,  while  the  rear  was  brought* up 
by  the  captive  chief  and  his  confederates,  so  long 
the  terror,  now  the  derision  of  the  populace.  The 
balconies  and  windows  were  crowded  with  specta- 
tors, and  the  streets  lined  with  multitudes,  who 
shouted  forth  the  name  of  G  on  salvo  de  Cordova,  the 
"  deliverer  of  Rome  !  "  The  procession  took  its 
way  through  the  principal  streets  of  the  city  to- 
wards the  Vatican,  where  Alexander  the  Sixth 
awaited  its  approach,  seated  under  a  canopy  of 
state  in  the  chief  saloon  of  the  palace,  surrounded 
by  his  great  ecclesiastics  and  nobility.  On  Gon- 
salvo's  entrance,  the  cardinals  rose  to  receive  him. 
The  Spanish  general  knelt  down  to  receive  the 
benediction  of  the  pope;  but  the  latter,  raising  him 
up,  kissed  him  on  the  forehead,  and  complimented 
him  with  the  golden  rose,  which  the  Holy  See  was 
accustomed  to  dispense  as  the  reward  of  its  most 
devoted  champions. 

In  the  conversation  which  ensued,  Gonsalvo  ob-  Hisrecep. 

5  lion  by  the 

tained  the  pardon  of  Guerri  and  his  associates,  and  pope* 
an  exemption  from  taxes  for  the  oppressed  inhabit- 
ants of  Ostia.  In  a  subsequent  part  of  the  dis- 
course, the  pope  taking  occasion  most  inopportunely 
to  accuse  the  Spanish  sovereigns  of  unfavorable  dis- 
positions towards  himself,  Gonsalvo  replied  with 
much  warmth,  enumerating  the  various  good  offices 
rendered  by  them  to  the  church ;    and,  roundly 


331. 


ITALIAN  WARS. 


Returns  to 
Mpain< 


part     taxing  the  pope  with  ingratitude,  somewhat  bluntly 

 advised  him  to  reform  his  life  and  conversation, 

which  brought  scandal  on  all  Christendom.  His 
Holiness  testified  no  indignation  at  this  unsavoury 
rebuke  of  the  Great  Captain,  though,  as  the  histo- 
rians with  some  simplicity  inform  us,  he  was  greatly 
surprised  to  find  the  latter  so  fluent  in  discourse, 
and  so  well  instructed  in  matters  foreign  to  his 
profession.5 

Gonsalvo  experienced  the  most  honorable  recep- 
tion from  King  Frederic  on  his  return  to  Naples. 
During  his  continuance  there,  he  was  lodged  and 
sumptuously  entertained  in  one  of  the  royal  fortress- 
es ;  and  the  grateful  monarch  requited  his  services 
with  the  title  of  Duke  of  St.  Angelo,  and  an  estate, 
in  Abruzzo,  containing  three  thousand  vassals.  He 
had  before  pressed  these  honors  on  the  victor,  who 
declined  accepting  them  till  he  had  obtained  the 
consent  of  his  own  sovereigns.  Soon  after,  Gon- 
salvo, quitting  Naples,  revisited  Sicily,  where  he 
adjusted  certain  differences  which  had  arisen  be- 
twixt the  viceroy  and  the  inhabitants  respecting 
the  revenues  of  the  island.  Then  embarking  with 
his  whole  force,  he  reached  the  shores  of  Spain  in 
the  month  of  August,  1498.  His  return  to  his  na- 
tive land  was  greeted  with  a  general  enthusiasm  far 
more  grateful  to  his  patriotic  heart,  than  any  hom- 
age or  honors  conferred  by  foreign  princes.  Isa- 
bella welcomed  him  with  pride  and  satisfaction,  as 

5  Giovio,  Vita  Magni  Gonsalvi,  ciardini,  Istoria,  lib.  3,  p.  175.  — 
p.  222.  —  Zurita,  Hist,  del  Rey  Chronica  del  Gran  Capitan,  cap. 
Hernando,  lib.  3,  cap.  1. — Guic-  30. 


GONSALVO  SUCCOURS  THE  POPE. 


335 


having  fully  vindicated  her  preference  of  him  to  his  chapter 
more  experienced  rivals  for  the  difficult  post  of  —  —  _ 
Italy ;  and  Ferdinand  did  not  hesitate  to  declare, 
that  the  Calabrian  campaigns  reflected  more  lustre 
on  his  crown,  than  the  conquest  of  Granada. 6 

The  total  expulsion  of  the  French  from  Naples  I>CMe  with 

1  *■  France. 

brought  hostilities  between  that  nation  and  Spain 
to  a  close.  The  latter  had  gained  her  point,  and 
the  former  had  little  heart  to  resume  so  disastrous 
an  enterprise.  Before  this  event,  indeed,  overtures 
had  been  made  by  the  French  court  for  a  separate 
treaty  with  Spain.  Th«  latter,  however,  was  un- 
willing to  enter  into  any  compact,  without  the 
participation  of  her  allies.  After  the  total  aban- 
donment of  the  French  enterprise,  there  seemed  to 
exist  no  further  pretext  for  prolonging  the  war. 
The  Spanish  government,  moreover,  had  little 
cause  for  satisfaction  with  its  confederates.  The 
emperor  had  not  cooperated  in  the  descent  on  the 
enemy's  frontier,  according  to  agreement ;  nor  had 
the  allies  ever  reimbursed  Spain  for  the  heavy 
charges  incurred  in  fulfilling  her  part  of  the  en- 
gagements. The  Venetians  were  taken  up  with 
securing  to  themselves  as  much  of  the  Neapolitan 
territory  as  they  could,  by  way  of  indemnification 
for  their  own  expenses. 7  The  duke  of  Milan  had 
already  made  a  separate  treaty  with  King  Charles. 

6  Giovio,  Vita  Magna  Gonsalvi,  got  into  their  possession,  "Jecroy 
p.  223.  —  Chronica  del  Gran  Cap-  que  leur  intention  n'est  point  de 
itan,  cap.  31,  32.  —  Zurita,  Hist,  les  rendre ;  car  ils  ne  l'ont  point 
del  Rey  Hernando,  lib.  3,  cap.  38.  de  coustume  quand  elles  leur  sont 

7  Comines  says,  with  some  na-  bienseantes  comme  sont  cellescy, 
tveti,  in  reference  to  the  places  in  qui  sont  du  coste  de  leur  uoufre  de 
Naples  which  the  Venetians  had  Venise."    Memoires,  p.  104. 


336 


ITALIAN  WARS. 


part  In  short,  every  member  of  the  league,  after  the 
 11  first  alarm  subsided,  had  shown  itself  ready  to  sac- 
rifice the  common  weal  to  its  own  private  ends. 
With  these  causes  of  disgust,  the  Spanish  govern- 
ment consented  to  a  truce  with  France,  to  begin 
for  itself  on  the  5th  of  March,  and  for  the  allies, 
if  they  chose  to  be  included  in  it,  seven  weeks 
later,  and  to  continue  till  the  end  of  October,  1497. 
This  truce  was  subsequently  prolonged,  and,  after 
the  death  of  Charles  the  Eighth,  terminated  in  a 
definitive  treaty  of  peace,  signed  at  Marcoussi, 
August  5th,  1498. 8 
Ferdinand's       In  the  discussions  to  which  these  arrangements 

views  re-  0 

Napfes?  gave  rise,  the  project  is  said  to  have  been  broach- 
ed for  the  conquest  and  division  of  the  kingdom 
of  Naples  by  the  combined  powers  of  France 
and  Spain,  which  was  carried  into  effect  some 
years  later.  According  to  Confines,  the  proposition 
originated  with  the  Spanish  court,  although  it  saw 
fit,  in  a  subsequent  period  of  the  negotiations,  to 
disavow  the  fact. 9  The  Spanish  writers,  on  the 
other  hand,  impute  the  first  suggestion  of  it  to  the 
French,  who,  they  say,  went  so  far  as  to  specify 
the  details  of  the  partition  subsequently  adopted  ; 
according  to  which  the  two  Calabrias  were  assigned 
to  Spain.    However  this  may  be,  there  is  little 

8  Guicciardini,  Tstoria,  lib.  3,  p.  completely  outwitted  by  the  supe- 
178. — Zurita,  Hist,  del  Rey  Her-  rior  management  of  the  Spanish 
nando,  lib.  2,  cap.  44  ;  lib.  3,  cap.  government;  who  intended  nothing 
13,  19,  21,  20.  —  Comines,  Me-  further  at  this  time  by  the  proposal 
moires,  liv.  8,  chap.  23.  of  a  division,  than  to  amuse  the 

9  Comines  gives  some  curious  de-  French  court  until  the  fate  of  Na- 
tails  respecting  the  French  embas-  pies  should  be  decided.  Memoires, 
sy,  which  he  considers  to  have  been  liv.  8,  chap.  23. 


GONSALVO  SUCCOURS  THE  POPE. 


337 


doubt  that  Ferdinand  had  long  since  entertained  chapter 

tlie  idea  of  asserting  his  claim,  at  some  time  or  — 

other,  to  the  crown  of  Naples.  He,  as  well  as  his 
father,  and  indeed  the  whole  nation,  had  beheld  with 
dissatisfaction  the  transfer  of  what  they  deemed 
their  rightful  inheritance,  purchased  by  the  blood 
and  treasure  of  Aragon,  to  an  illegitimate  branch  of 
the  family.  The  accession  of  Frederic,  in  particu- 
lar, who  came  to  the  throne  with  the  support  of  the 
Angevin  party,  the  old  enemies  of  Aragon,  had 
given  great  umbrage  to  the  Spanish  monarch. 

The  Castilian  envoy,  Garcilasso  de  la  Vega, 
agreeably  to  the  instructions  of  his  court,  urged 
Alexander  the  Sixth  to  withhold  the  investiture  of 
the  kingdom  from  Frederic,  but  unavailingly,  as 
the  pope's  interests  were  too  closely  connected,  by 
marriage,  with  those  of  the  royal  family  of  Naples. 
Under  these  circumstances,  it  was  somewhat  doubt- 
ful what  course  Gonsalvo  should  be  directed  to 
pursue  in  the  present  exigency.  That  prudent 
commander,  however,  found  the  new  monarch  too 
strong  in  the  affections  of  his  people  to  be  disturbed 
at  present.  All  that  now  remained  for  Ferdinand, 
therefore,  was  to  rest  contented  with  the  possession 
of  the  strong  posts  pledged  for  the  reimbursement 
of  his  expenses  in  the  war,  and  to  make  such  use 
of  the  correspondence  which  the  late  campaigns 
had  opened  to  him  in  Calabria,  that,  when  the  time 
arrived  for  action,  he  might  act  with  effect. 10 

J0  Zurita,  Hist,  del  Rey  Pier-    16. —  Salazar  de  Mendozi.  Mo;>::r- 
nando,  lit).  2,  cap.  26,  33. —  Ma-    quia,  torn.  i.  lib.  3,  cap.  10. 
riana,  Hist,  de  Espafia,  lib.  26,  cap. 


VOL.  II. 


43 


ITALIAN  WARS. 


part        Ferdinand's  conduct  through  the  whole  of  the 

 ■ —  Italian  war  had  greatly  enhanced  his  reputation 

q^rSmbyao"  throughout  Europe  for  sagacity  and  prudence.  It 
afforded  a  most  advantageous  comparison  with  that 
of  his  rival,  Charles  the  Eighth,  whose  very  first  act 
had  been  the  surrender  of  so  important  a  territory 
as  Roussillon.  The  construction  of  the  treaty  re- 
lating to  this,  indeed,  laid  the  Spanish  monarch 
open  to  the  imputation  of  artifice.  But  this,  at 
least,  did  no  violence  to  the  political  maxims  of  the 
age,  and  only  made  him  regarded  as  the  more 
shrewd  and  subtile  diplomatist ;  while,  on  the  other 
hand,  he  appeared  before  the  world  in  the  imposing 
attitude  of  the  defender  of  the  church,  and  of  the 
rights  of  his  injured  kinsman.  His  influence  had 
been  clearly  discernible  in  every  operation  of  mo- 
ment, whether  civil  or  military.  He  had  been  most 
active,  through  his  ambassadors  at  Genoa,  Venice, 
t  and  Rome,  in  stirring  up  the  great  Italian  confed- 

eracy, which  eventually  broke  the  power  of  King 
Charles ;  and  his  representations  had  tended,  as 
much  as  any  other  cause,  to  alarm  the  jealousy  of 
Sforza,  to  fix  the  vacillating  politics  of  Alexander, 
and  to  quicken  the  cautious  and  dilatory  movements 
of  Venice.  He  had  shown  equal  vigor  in  action  ; 
and  contributed  mainly  to  the  success  of  the  war 
by  his  operations  on  the  side  of  Roussillon,  and  still 
more  in  Calabria.  On  the  latter,  indeed,  he  had 
not  lavished  any  extraordinary  expenditure ;  a  cir- 
cumstance partly  attributable  to  the  state  of  his 
finances,  severely  taxed,  as  already  noticed,  by  the 
Granadine  war,  as  well  as  by  the  operations  in 


GONSALVO  SUCCOURS  THE  POPE. 


339 


Koussillon,  but  in  part,  also,  to  his  habitual  frugal-  chapter 
itj,  which,  with  a  very  different  spirit  from  that  of  IIL 
his  illustrious  consort,  always  stinted  the  measure 
of  his  supplies  to  the  bare  exigency  of  the  occasion. 
Fortunately  the  genius  of  the  Great  Captain  was 
so  fruitful  in  resources,  as  to  supply  every  defi- 
ciency ;  enabling  him  to  accomplish  such  brilliant 
results,  as  effectually  concealed  any  poverty  of 
preparation  on  the  part  of  his  master. 

The  Italian  wars  were  of  signal  importance  to  influence  of 

°  1  the  war  on 

the  Spanish  nation.  Until  that  time,  they  had  Spain- 
been  cooped  up  within  the  narrow  limits  of  the 
Peninsula,  uninstructed  and  taking  little  interest  in 
the  concerns  of  the  rest  of  Europe.  A  new  world 
was  now  opened  to  them.  They  were  taught  to 
measure  their  own  strength  by  collision  with  other 
powers  on  a  common  scene  of  action ;  and,  success 
inspiring  them  with  greater  confidence,  seemed  to 
beckon  them  on  towards  the  field,  where  they  were 
destined  to  achieve  still  more  splendid  triumphs. 

This  war  afforded  them  also  a  most  useful  lesson 
of  tactics.  The  war  of  Granada  had  insensibly 
trained  up  a  hardy  militia,  patient  and  capable  of 
every  privation  and  fatigue,  and  brought  under 
strict  subordination.  This  was  a  great  advance 
beyond  the  independent  and  disorderly  habits  of 
the  feudal  service.  A  most  valuable  corps  of  light 
troops  had  been  formed,  schooled  in  all  the  wild, 
irregular  movements  of  guerrilla  warfare.  But  the 
nation  was  still  defective  in  that  steady,  well-disci- 
plined infantry,  which,  in  the  improved  condition 


ITALIAN  WARS. 


iwut     of  military  science,  seemed  destined  to  decide  the 


ii. 


fate  of  battles  in  Europe  thenceforward. 

The  Calabrian  campaigns,  which  were  suited  in 
some  degree  to  the  display  of  their  own  tactics, 
fortunately  gave  the  Spaniards  opportunity  foi 
studying  at  leisure  those  of  their  adversaries.  The 
lesson  wras  not  lost.  Before  the  end  of  the  war 
important  innovations  were  made  in  the  discipline 
and  arms  of  the  Spanish  soldier.  The  Swiss  pike, 
or  lance,  which,  as  has  been  already  noticed,  Gon- 
salvo  de  Cordova  had  mingled  with  the  short  sword 
of  his  own  legions,  now  became  the  regular  weap- 
on of  one  third  of  the  infantry.  The  division  of 
the  various  corps  in  the  cavalry  and  infantry  ser- 
vices was  arranged  on  more  scientific  principles, 
and  the  whole,  in  short,  completely  reorganized.  11 
organisation  Before  the  end  of  the  war,  preparations  were 
made  for  embodying  a  national  militia,  which 
should  take  the  place  of  the  ancient  hermandad. 
Laws  were  passed  regulating  the  equipment  of 
every  individual  according  to  his  property.  A 
man's  arms  were  declared  not  liable  for  debt,  even 
to  the  crown  ;  and  smiths  and  other  artificers  wen; 
restricted,  under  severe  penalties,  from  working 
them  up  into  other  articles.  12    In  1496,  a  census 

11  Mem.  de  la  Acad,  de  Hist.,  biles  [prlndii]  et  cum  mucronibus." 

torn.  vi.  Ilust.  6.  —  Zurita,  Hist.  (Hist.,  lib.  22,  cap.  47.)  Sandovtil 

del  Rey  Hernando,  lib.  3,  cap.  6.  notices  the  short  sword,  "  cortas 

The   ancient.  Spaniards,   who  espadas,"  as  the  peculiar  weap- 

were  as  noted  as  the  modern,  for  on  of  the  Spanish  soldier  in  the 

the  temper  and  finish   of  their  twelfth  century.    Historia  de  los 

blades,  used  short  swords,  in  the  Reyes  de  Castilla  y  de  Leon,  (Ma* 

management  of  which  they  were  drid,  171)2,)  torn.  ii.  p.  240. 

very  adroit.  "  Hispano,"  says  Livy,  12  Prapmaticas  del  Reyno,  fol. 

"punctim  magis,  quam  oeesim,  ad-  83,  127,  129. 

suelo  petere  hofctem,  brevitate  ha-  The  former  of  these  ordinances, 


of  the  laili 
tia 


GONSALVO  SUCCOURS  THE  POPE. 


34] 


was  taken  of  ail  persons  capable  of  bearing  arms  ;  chapter 
and  by  an  ordinance,  dated  at  Valladolid,  February  — 
22d,  in  the  same  year,  it  was  provided  that  one  out 
of  every  twelve  inhabitants,  between  twenty  and 
forty-five  years  of  age,  should  be  enlisted  in  the 
service  of  the  state,  whether  for  foreign  war,  or  the 
suppression  of  disorders  at  home.  The  remain- 
ing eleven  were  liable  to  be  called  on  in  case  of 
urgent  necessity.  These  recruits  were  to  be  paid 
during  actual  service,  and  excused  from  taxes; 
the  only  legal  exempts  were  the  clergy,  hidalgos, 
and  paupers.    A  general  review  and  inspection  of 


dated  Ta.rac.ona,  Sept.  18th ,  1495,  is 
extremely  precise  in  specifying  the 
appointments  required  for  each  in- 
dividual. 

Among-  other  improvements,  in- 
troduced somewhat  earlier,  may  be 
mentioned  that  of  organizing  and 
thoroughly  training  a  small  corps 
of  heavy-armed  cavalry,  amounting 
to  twenty-five  hundred.  The  num- 
ber of  men-at-arms  had  been  great- 
ly reduced  in  the  kingdom  of  late 
years,  in  consequence  of  the  exclu- 
sive demand  for  the  ginetcs  in  the 
Moorish  war.  Oviedo,  Quincuage- 
nas,  MS. 

Ordinances  were  also  passed  for 
encouraging  the  breed  of  horses, 
which  had  suffered  greatly  from  the 
preference  very  generally  given  by 
the  Spaniards  to  mules.  This  had 
been  carried  to  such  a  length,  that, 
while  it  was  nearly  impossible, 
according  to  Bernaldez,  to  mount 
ten  or  twelve  thousand  cavalry  on 
horses,  ten  times  that  number  could 
lie  provided  with  mules.  (Reyes 
Catolicos,  MS., cap.  184.)  "Epor- 
que  si  a  esto  se  diesse  lugar,"  says 
one  of  the  pj-agmalicas,  adverting 
to  this  evil,  "  muy  prestamente  se 
perderia  en  nuestros  reynos  la  no- 
bleza  de  la  cauelleria  que  en  ellos 


suele  auer,  e  se  oluidaria  el  exerci- 
cio  militar  de  que  en  los  tiempos 
passados  nuestra  nacion  de  Espafia 
ha  alcancado  gran  fama  e  loor  ;  " 
it  was  ordered  that  no  person  in 
the  kingdom  should  be  allowed  to 
keep  a  mule,  unless  he  owned  a 
horse  also  ;  and  that  none  but  ec- 
clesiastics and  women  should  be 
allowed  the  use  of  mules  in  the 
saddle.  These  edicts  were  enfor- 
ced with  the  utmost  rigor,  the  king 
himself  setting  the  example  of  con- 
formity to  them.  By  these  sea- 
sonable precautions,  the  breed  of 
Spanish  horses,  so  long  noted 
throughout  Europe,  was  restored 
to  its  ancient  credit,  and  the  mule 
consigned  to  the  humble  and  appro- 
priate offices  of  drudgery,  or  raised 
only  for  exportation.  For  these 
and  similar  provisions,  see  Pragma- 
ticas  del  Reyno,  fol.  127-132. 

Mateo  Aleutian's  whimsical  pica- 
resco  novel,  Guzman  d'  Alfarache, 
contains  a  comic  adventure,  show- 
ing the  excessive  rigor  with  which 
the  edict  against  mules  was  enfor- 
ced, as  late  as  the  close  of  Philip 
II. 's  reign.  The  passage  is  ex- 
tracted in  Roscoe's  elegant  version 
of  the  Spanish  Novelists,  Vol.  L 
p.  132. 


342 


ITALIAN  WARS. 


part  arms  were  to  take  place  every  year,  in  the  months 
— —  of  March  and  September,  when  prizes  were  to  be 
awarded  to  those  best  accoutred,  and  most  expert 
in  the  use  of  their  weapons.  Such  were  the  judi- 
cious regulations  by  which  every  citizen,  without 
being  withdrawn  from  his  regular  occupation,  was 
gradually  trained  up  for  the  national  defence  ;  and 
which,  without  the  oppressive  incumbrance  of  a 
numerous  standing  army,  placed  the  whole  effective 
force  of  the  country,  prompt  and  fit  for  action,  at 
the  disposal  of  the  government,  whenever  the  public 
good  should  call  for  it. 13 


13  See  a  copy  of  the  ordinance  striplings  with  scarce  down  upon 

taken  from  the  Archives  of  Siman-  the  chin,  all  armed  with  swords  at 

eas;  apud   Mem.  de  la  Acad,  de  their  sides,  he  is  said  to  have  cried 

Hist.,  torn.  vi.  apend.  13.  out,  "  O  bienaventurada  Espafia, 

When  Francis  I.,  who  was  des-  que  pare  y  cria  los  hombres  arma- 

tined  to  reel  the  effects  of  this  care-  dos!  "  (L.  Marineo,  Cosas  Memo- 

ful  military  discipline,  beheld,  dur-  rabies,  lib.  5.)     An  exclamation 

in<r  his  detention  in  Spain  in  the  not  unworthy  of  a  Napoleon, —01 

beginning  ul  the  following  century,  an  Attila. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


ALLIANCES  OF  THE  ROYAL  FAMILY.  -  DEATH  OF  PRINCE  JOHN 
AND  PRINCESS  ISABELLA. 


Royal  Family  of  Castile.  —  Matrimonial  Alliances  with  Portugal. — 
With  Austria. — Marriage  of  John  and  Margaret.  —  Death  of  Prince 
John.  —  The  Queen's  Resignation.  —  Independence  of  the  Cortes  of 
Aragon.  —  Death  of  the  Princess  Isabella.  —  Recognition  of  her  in- 
fant Son  Miguel. 

The  credit  and  authority  which  the  Castilian  chapter 
sovereigns  established  by  the  success  of  their  arms,  1V' 
were  greatly  raised  by  the  matrimonial  connexions  Sr'" 
which  they  formed  for  their  children.    This  was 
too  important  a  spring  of  their  policy  to  be  passed 
over  in  silence.    Their  family  consisted  of  one  son 
and  four  daughters,  whom  they  carefully  educated 
in  a  manner  befitting  their  high  rank ;  and  who 
repaid  their  solicitude  by  exemplary  filial  obedience, 
and  the  early  manifestation  of  virtues  rare  even  in 
a  private  station. 1    They  seem  to  have  inherited 
many  of  the  qualities  which  distinguished  their 

1  The  princess  Doila  Isabel,  the  vember  6th,  1479.  Dona  Maria 
eldest  daughter,  was  born  at  Due-  was  born  at  Cordova,  in  1482,  and 
nas„  October  1st,  1470.  Their  sec-  Doila  Catalina,  the  fifth  and  last 
ond  child  and  only  son,  Juan,  prince  child,  at  Alcala  de  Henares,  De- 
of  the  Asturias,  was  not  born  until  cember  5th,  1485.  The  daughters 
eight  years  later,  June  30th,  1478,  all  lived  to  reign  ;  but  their  brilliant 
at  Seville.  Doila  Juana,  whom  the  destinies  were  clouded  with  do- 
queen  used  playfully  to  call  her  mestic  afflictions,  from  which  roy- 
**  mother-in-law,"  suegra,  from  her  alty  could  afford  no  refuge.  Car- 
resemblance  to  King  Ferdinand's  bajal,  Anales,  MS.,  loc.  mult, 
mother,  was  born  at  Toledo,  No- 


THE  ROYAL  FAM11A. 


part  illustrious  mother ;  great  decorum  and  dignity  of 
— —  manners,  combined  with  ardent  sensibilities,  and 
unaffected  piety,  which,  at  least  in  the  eldest  and 
favorite  daughter,  Isabella,  was,  unhappily,  strongly 
tinctured  with  bigotry.  They  could  not,  indeed, 
pretend  to  their  mother's  comprehensive  mind,  and 
talent  for  business,  although  there  seems  to  have 
been  no  deficiency  in  these  respects ;  or,  if  any,  it 
was  most  effectually  supplied  by  their  excellent 
education. 2 

u'raueja.  The  marriage  of  the  princess  Isabella  with  Alon- 
so,  the  heir  of  the  Portuguese  crown,  in  1490,  has 
been  already  noticed.  This  had  been  eagerly  de- 
sired by  her  parents,  not  only  for  the  possible  con- 
tingency, which  it  afforded,  of  bringing  the  various 
monarchies  of  the  Peninsula  under  one  head,  (a  de- 
sign of  which  they  never  wholly  lost  sight,)  but  from 
the  wish  to  conciliate  a  formidable  neighbour,  who 
possessed  various  means  of  annoyance,  which  he 
had  shown  no  reluctance  to  exert.  The  reigning 
monarch,  John  the  Second,  a  bold  and  crafty  prince, 
had  never  forgotten  his  ancient  quarrel  with  the 
Spanish  sovereigns  in  support  of  their  rival  Joanna 
Beltraneja,  or  Joanna  the  Nun,  as  she  was  generally 
called  in  the  Castilian  court  after  she  had  taken 
the  veil.  John,  in  open  contempt  of  the  treaty  of 
Alcantara,  and  indeed  of  all  monastic  rule,  had  not 
only  removed  his  relative  from  the  convent  of  Santa 
Clara,  but  had  permitted  her  to  assume  a  royal 


2  The  only  exception  to  these  eccentricities,  developed  in  later 
remarks,  was  that  afforded  by  the  life,  must  be  imputed,  indeed;  to 
infanta  Joanna,  whose  unfortunate    bodily  infirmity. 


ALLIANCES  AND  DEATHS. 


of 

prinoMi 


state,  and  subscribe  herself  "  I  the  Queen."  This  chapter 
empty  insult  he  accompanied  with  more  serious  — L_ 
efforts  to  form  such  a  foreign  alliance  for  the  lib- 
erated princess  as  should  secure  her  the  support  of 
some  arm  more  powerful  than  his  own,  and  enable 
her  to  renew  the  struggle  for  her  inheritance  with 
better  chance  of  success.3  These  flagrant  proceed- 
ings had  provoked  the  admonitions  of  the  Roman 
see,  and  had  formed  the  topic,  as  may  be  believed, 
of  repeated,  though  ineffectual  remonstrance  from 
the  court  of  Castile.4 

It  seemed  probable  that  the  union  of  the  princess  Marring 

r  1  the  pr] 

of  the  Asturias  with  the  heir  of  Portugal,  as  origin-  lsabtlla- 
ally  provided  by  the  treaty  of  Alcantara,  would  so 
far  identify  the  interests  of  the  respective  parties  as 
to  remove  all  further  cause  of  disquietude.  The 
new  bride  was  received  in  Portugal  in  a  spirit  14  90 
which  gave  cordial  assurance  of  these  friendly  rela- 
tions for  the  future  ;  and  the  court  of  Lisbon  cele- 
brated the  auspicious  nuptials  with  the  gorgeous 
magnificence,  for  which,  at  this  period  of  its  suc- 
cessful enterprise,  it  was  distinguished  above  every 
other  court  in  Christendom.5 


3  Nine  different  matches  were  4  Instructions  relating  to  this 

proposed  for  Joanna  in  the  course  matter,  written  with  the  queen's 

of  her  life  ;  but  they  all  vanished  own  hand,  still  exist  in  the  archives 

into  air,  and  "  the  excellent  lady,"  of  Simancas.  Mem.  de  la  Acad,  de 

as  she  was  usually  called  by  the  Hist.,  ubi  supra. 

Portuguese,  died  as  she  had  lived,  5  La  Clede,  Histoire  de  Portugal, 

in  single  blessedness,  at  the  ripe  torn.  iv.  p.  100. 

age  of  sixty-eight.    In  the  Mem.  The  Portuguese  historian,  Faria 

de  la  Acad,  de  Hist.,  torn,  vi.,  the  y  Sousa,  expends  half  a  dozen  folio 

19th  Ilustracion  is  devoted  to  this  pages   on  these  royal  revelries, 

topic,  in  regard  to  which  father  which  cost  six  months' preparation, 

Florez  shows  sufficient  ignorance,  and  taxed  the  wits  of  the  most 

or  inaccuracy.  Reyuas  Catholicas,  finished  artists   and   artificers  in 

torn.  ii.  p.  780.  France,  England,  Flanders,  Cas- 
VOL.  II.  44 


Nov.  22 


346 


THE  ROYAL  FAMILY. 


tart        Alonso's  death,  a  few  months  after  this  event, 

 —  however,  blighted  the  fair  hopes  which  had  begun 

husband.  to  open  of  a  more  friendly  feeling  between  the  two 
countries.  His  unfortunate  widow,  unable  to  en- 
dure the  scenes  of  her  short-lived  happiness,  soon 
withdrew  into  her  own  country  to  seek  such  conso- 
lation as  she  could  find  in  the  bosom  of  her  family. 
There,  abandoning  herself  to  the  melancholy  regrets 
to  which  her  serious  and  pensive  temper  naturally 
disposed  her,  she  devoted  her  hours  to  works  of 
piety  and  benevolence,  resolved  to  enter  no  more 
into  engagements,  which  had  thrown  so  dark  a 
cloud  over  the  morning  of  her  life.6 

On  King  John's  death,  in  1495,  the  crown  of 
Portugal  devolved  on  Emanuel,  that  enlightened 
monarch,  who  had  the  glory  in  the  very  commence- 
ment of  his  reign  of  solving  the  grand  problem, 
which  had  so  long  perplexed  the  world,  of  the  ex- 
istence of  an  undiscovered  passage  to  the  east. 
This  prince  had  conceived  a  passion  for  the  young 
and  beautiful  Isabella  during  her  brief  residence  in 
Lisbon  ;  and,  soon  after  his  accession  to  the  throne, 
he  despatched  an  embassy  to  the  Spanish  court  in- 
viting her  to  share  it  with  him.  But  the  princess, 
wedded  to  the  memory  of  her  early  love,  declined 
the  proposals,  notwithstanding  they  were  strongly 
seconded  by  the  wishes  of  her  parents,  who,  how- 
tile,  and  Portugal.  (Europa  Porta-  which  the  Castilians  adopted  from 
guesa,  torn.  ii.  pp.  452  et  seq.)  We  the  Spanish  Arabs, 
see,  throughout,  the  same  luxury  6  Zurita,  Hist,  del  Rev  Hernan- 
of  spectacle,  the  same  elegant  do,  torn.  v.  fol.  38.  —  Abarca, 
games  of  chivalry,  as  the  tilt  of  Reyes  de  Aragon,  torn.  ii.  fol.  312. 
reeds,  the  rings,  and  the  like, 


ALLIANCES  AND  DEATHS. 


347 


ever,  were  unwilling  to  constrain  their  daughter's  chapter 

.         .  .  .  IV 

inclinations  on  so  delicate  a  point,  trusting  perhaps   '. — 

to  the  effects  of  time,  and  the  perseverance  of  her 
royal  suitor.7 

In  the  mean  while,  the  Catholic  sovereigns  were 
occupied  with  negotiations  for  the  settlement  of  the 
other  members  of  their  family.  The  ambitious 
schemes  of  Charles  the  Eighth  established  a  com- 
munity of  interests  among  the  great  European 
states,  such  as  had  never  before  existed,  or,  at  least, 
been  understood ;  and  the  intimate  relations  thus 
introduced  naturally  led  to  intermarriages  between 
the  principal  powers,  who,  until  this  period  seem 
to  have  been  severed  almost  as  far  asunder  as  if 
oceans  had  rolled  between  them.  The  Spanish 
monarchs,  in  particular,  had  rarely  gone  beyond  the 
limits  of  the  Peninsula  for  their  family  alliances. 
The  new  confederacy  into  which  Spain  had  en- 
tered, now  opened  the  way  to  more  remote  con- 
nexions, which  were  destined  to  exercise  a  perma- 
nent influence  on  the  future  politics  of  Europe.  It 
wras  while  Charles  the  Eighth  was  wasting  his  time 
at  Naples,  that  the  marriages  were  arranged  be- 


7  Zurita,  Hist,  del  Rey  Hernan- 
do, torn.  v.  fol.  78,  82.  —  La  Clede, 
Hist,  de  Portugal,  torn.  iv.  p.  95. 
—  Peter  Martyr, Opus  Epist.,epist. 
146. 

Martyr,  in  a  letter  written  at  the 
close  of  1496,  thus  speaks  of  the 
princess  Isabella's  faithful  attach- 
ment to  her  husband's  memory; 
M  Mira  fuit  hujus  fceminae  in  abji- 
ciendis  secundis  nuptiis  constantia. 
Tanta  est  ejus  modcstia,  tanta  vi- 


dua] is  castitas,  ut  nec  mensa  post 
mariti  mortem  comederit,  nec  lauti 
quicqoam  degustaverit.  Jejuniis 
sese  vigiliisque  ita  maceravit,  ut  sic- 
co  stipite  siccior  sit  effecta.  Suf- 
fulta  rubore  perturbatur,  quando- 
cunque  de  jugali  thalamo  sermo 
intexitur.  Parentum  tamen  ali- 
quando  precibus,  veluti  olfacimus, 
inflectetur.  Viget  fama,  futuram 
vestri  regis  Emmanuelis  uxorem." 
Epist.  171. 


548 


THE  ROYAL  FAMILY. 


MU- 
ll. 


Alliances 
with  the 
house  of 
Austria. 


Ami  that  of 
RngUuul. 


tween  the  royal  houses  of  Spain  and  Austria,  by 
which  the  weight  of  these  great  powers  was  thrown 
into  the  same  scale,  and  the  balance  of  Europe  un- 
settled for  the  greater  part  of  the  following  cen- 
tury.8 

The  treaty  provided,  that  Prince  John,  the  heir 
of  the  Spanish  monarchies,  then  in  his  eighteenth 
year,  should  be  united  with  the  princess  Margaret, 
daughter  of  the  emperor  Maximilian  ;  and  that  the 
archduke  Philip,  his  son,  and  heir,  and  sovereign  of 
the  Low  Countries  in  his  mother's  right,  should 
marry  Joanna,  second  daughter  of  Ferdinand  and 
Isabella.  No  dowry  was  to  be  required  with  either 
princess.9 

In  the  course  of  the  following  year,  arrange- 
ments were  also  concluded  for  the  marriage  of  the 
youngest  daughter  of  the  Castilian  sovereigns  w7ith 
a  prince  of  the  royal  house  of  England,  the  first 
example  of  the  kind  for  more  than  a  century. 10 
Ferdinand  had  cultivated  the  good-will  of  Henry 
the  Seventh,  in  the  hope  of  drawing  him  into  the 
confederacy  against  the  French  monarch  ;  and  in 


8  Zurita,  Hist,  del  Rey  Hernan- 
do, torn.  v.  fol.  63. 

9  Zurita,  Hist,  del  Rey  Hernan- 
do, torn.  v.  lib.  2,  cap.  5.  —  Fer- 
reras,  Hist.  d'Espagne,  torn.  viii. 
p.  1()0. 

10  I  believe  there  is  no  instance 
of  such  a  union,  save  that  of  John 
of  Gaunt,  duke  of  Lancaster,  with 
Dofia  Constanza,  daughter  of  Peter 
the  Cruel,  in  1371,  from  whom 
Queen  Isabella  was  lineally  de- 
scended on  the  father's  side. 

The  title  of  Prince  of  the  Astu- 
rias,  appropriated  to  the  heir  ap- 


parent of  Castile,  was  first  created 
for  the  infant  Don  Henry,  after- 
wards Henry  III.,  on  occasion  of 
his  marriage  with  John  of  Gaunt's 
daughter,  in  1388.  It  was  pro- 
fessedly in  imitation  of  the  English 
title  of  Prince  of  Wales;  and  the 
Asturias  were  selected  as  that  por- 
tion of  the  ancient  Gothic  monar- 
chy, which  had  never  bowed  be- 
neath the  Saracen  yoke.  Florez, 
Reynas  Catholicas,  torn.  ii.  pp.  708 
-715.  —  Mendoza,  Dignidades,  lib. 
3,  cap.  23. 


ALLIANCES  AND  DEATHS. 


349 


this  had  not  wholly  failed,  although  the  wary  king  chapi-eh 
seems  to  have  come  into  it  rather  as  a  silent  part- 
ner, if  we  may  so  say,  than  with  the  intention  of 
affording  any  open  or  very  active  cooperation.11 
The  relations  of  amity  between  the  two  courts  were 
still  further  strengthened  by  the  treaty  of  marriage 
above  alluded  to,  finally  adjusted  October  1st,  149G, 
and  ratified  the  following  year,  between  Arthur, 
prince  of  Wales,  and  the  infanta  Dona  Catalina, 
conspicuous  in  English  history,  equally  for  her  mis- 
fortunes and  her  virtues,  as  Catharine  of  Aragon.'2 
The  French  viewed  with  no  little  jealousy  the 
progress  of  these  various  negotiations,  which  they 
zealously  endeavoured  to  thwart  by  all  the  artifices 
of  diplomacy.  But  King  Ferdinand  had  sufficient 
address  to  secure  in  his  interests  persons  of  the 
highest  credit  at  the  courts  of  Henry  and  Maximil- 

11  Zurita,  Hist,  del  Rey  Her-  doute  moost  liberally  and  bounte- 

nando,  lib.  2,  cap.  25. —  Rymer,  fully."    Chronicle,  p.  483. 
Foedera,  (London,  1727.)  vol.  xii.       13  See  the  marriage  treaty  in 

pp.  038-042.  Rymer.     (Fcedera,  vol.   xii.  pp. 

Ferdinand  used  his  good  offices  658-000.)  The  marriage  h:id 
to  mediate  a  peace  between  Henry  been  arranged  between  the  Span- 
VII.  and  the  king  of  Scots  ;  and  ish  and  English  courts  as  far  back 
it  is  a  proof  of  the  respect  enter-  as  March,  1489,  when  the  elder  of 
tained  for  him  by  both  these  mon-  the  parties  had  not  yei  reached  the 
archs,  that  they  agreed  to  refer  fifth  year  of  her  age.  This  was 
their  disputes  to  his  arbitration,  confirmed  by  another,  more  full  and 
(Rymer.  Foedera,  vol.  xii.  p.  071.)  definite,  in  the  following  year, 
"  And  so,"  says  the  old  chronicler  1490.  By  this  treaty,  it  was  stip- 
Hall,  of  the  English  prince,  "  bey-  ulated,  that  Catharine's  portion 
ing  confederate  and  alied  by  treatie  should  be  200,000  gold  crowns, 
and  league  with  al  his  neighbors,  one  half  to  be  paid  down  at  the 
he  gratefied  with  his  moost  heartie  date  of  her  marriage,  and  the  re- 
thanks  kyng  Ferdinand  and  the  mainder  in  two  equal  payments  in 
queue  his  wife,  to  which  woman  the  course  of  the  two  vears  ensu- 
none  other  was  comparable  in  her  ing.  The  prince  of  Wales  was  to 
tyme,  for  that  they  were  the  medi-  settle  on  her  one  third  of  the  reve- 
ators,  organes,  and  instrumentes  by  nucs  of  the  principality  of  Wales, 
the  which  the  truce  was  concluded  the  dukedom  of  Cornwall,  and  earl- 
betwene  the  Scottish  kynge  and  dom  of  Chester.  Rymer,  Foedera, 
him,  and  rewarded  his  ambassa-  vol.  xii.  pp.  411-417. 


350 


THE  ROYAL  FAMILY 


Ian,  who  promptly  acquainted  him  with  the  intrigues 
of  the  French  government,  and  effectually  aided  in 
counteracting  them.13 

The  English  connexion  was  necessarily  deferred 
for  some  years,  on  account  of  the  youth  of  the 
parties,  neither  of  whom  exceeded  eleven  years  of 
age.  No  such  impediment  occurred  in  regard  to 
the  German  alliances,  and  measures  were  taken  at 
once  for  providing  a  suitable  conveyance  for  the 
infanta  Joanna  into  Flanders,  which  should  bring 
back  the  princess  Margaret  on  its  return.  By  the 
end  of  summer,  in  1496,  a  fleet  consisting  of  one 
hundred  and  thirty  vessels,  large  and  small,  strong- 
ly manned  and  thoroughly  equipped  with  all  the 
means  of  defence  against  the  French  cruisers,  was 
got  ready  for  sea  in  the  ports  of  Guipuscoa  and 
Biscay.14  The  whole  was  placed  under  the  direc- 
tion of  Don  Fadrique  Enriquez,  admiral  of  Castile, 
who  carried  with  him  a  splendid  show  of  chivalry, 
chiefly  drawn  from  the  northern  provinces  of  the 
kingdom.  A  more  gallant  and  beautiful  armada 
never  before  quitted  the  shores  of  Spain.  The  in- 
fanta Joanna,  attended  by  a  numerous  suite,  arrived 


13  "  Procuro,"  saysZurita,  "  que 
se  effectuassen  los  matrimonios  de 
sus  hijos,  no  solo  con  promesas, 
pero  con  dadivas  que  se  hizieron  a 
los  privados  de  aquellos  principes, 
que  en  ello  entendian."  Hist,  del 
Rey  Hernando,  lib.  2,  cap.  3. 

14  Historians  differ,  as  usual,  as 
to  the  strength  of  this  armament. 
Martyr  makes  it  110  vessels,  and 
10,000 soldiers,  (OpusEpist.,  epist. 
168;)  while  Bernaldez  carries  the 
number  to  130  sail,  and  25,000 


soldiers,  (Reyes  Catolieos,  MS., 
cap.  153.)  Ferreras  adopts  the 
latter  estimate,  (torn.  viii.  p.  173.) 
Martyr  may  have  intended  only  the 
galleys  and  regular  troops,  while 
Bernaldez,  more  loosely,  included 
vessels  and  seamen  of  every  de 
scription.  See  also  the  royal  ordi- 
nances, ap.  Coleccion  de  Cedulas, 
(torn.  i.  nos.  79,  80,  82,)  whose 
language  implies  a  very  large  num- 
ber, without  specifying  it. 


ALLIANCES  AND  DEATHS. 


351 


on  board  the  fleet  towards  the  end  of  August,  at  chapter 

IV 

the  port  of  Laredo,  on  the  eastern  borders  of  the  ! — 

Asturias,  where  she  took  a  last  farewell  of  the 
queen  her  mother,  who  had  postponed  the  hour  of 
separation  as  long  as  possible,  by  accompanying 
her  daughter  to  the  place  of  embarkation. 

The  weather,  soon  after  her  departure,  became  The  queen's 

L  anxiety. 

extremely  rough  and  tempestuous ;  and  it  was  so 
long  before  any  tidings  of  the  squadron  reached  the 
queen,  that  her  affectionate  heart  was  filled  with 
the  most  distressing  apprehensions.  She  sent  for 
the  oldest  and  most  experienced  navigators  in  these 
boisterous  northern  seas,  consulting  them,  says 
Martyr,  day  and  night  on  the  probable  causes  of 
delay,  the  prevalent  courses  of  the  winds  at  that 
season,  and  the  various  difficulties  and  dangers  of 
the  voyage ;  bitterly  regretting  that  the  troubles 
with  France  prevented  any  other  means  of  commu- 
nication, than  the  treacherous  element  to  which  she 
had  trusted  her  daughter.15  Her  spirits  were  still 
further  depressed  at  this  juncture  by  the  death  of 
her  own  mother,  the  dowager  Isabella,  who,  under 
the  mental  infirmity  with  which  she  had  been  vis- 
ited for  many  years,  had  always  experienced  the 
most  devoted  attention  from  her  daughter,  who 
ministered  to  her  necessities  with  her  own  hands, 
and  watched  over  her  declining  years  with  the  most 
tender  solicitude.16 

!5  Peter  Martyr,  Opus  Epist.,  16  Carbajal,  Anales,  MS.,  afio 

epist.    172.  —  Carbajal,    Analcs,  1496.  —  Peter  Martyr,  Opus  Epist., 

MS.,  afio  1496.— Mariana,  Hist,  de  epist.  172. 
Espafia,  torn.  ii.  lib.  26,  cap.  12. 


352 


THE  ROYAL  FAMILY. 


pabt  At  length,  the  long-desired  intelligence  came  of 
the  arrival  of  the  Castilian  fleet  at  its  place  of  des- 
tination. It  had  been  so  grievously  shattered,  how  - 
ever, by  tempests,  as  to  require  being  refitted  in 
the  ports  of  England.  Several  of  the  vessels  were 
lost,  and  many  of  Joanna's  attendants  perished 
from  the  inclemency  of  the  weather,  and  the  nu- 
merous hardships  to  which  they  were  exposed. 
The  infanta,  however,  happily  reached  Flanders  in 
safety,  and,  not  long  after,  her  nuptials  with  the 
archduke  Philip  were  celebrated  in  the  city  of  Lisle 
with  all  suitable  pomp  and  solemnity. 
Margaret  or      The  fleet  was  detained  until  the  ensuing  winter, 

Austria.  °  7 

to  transport  the  destined  bride  of  the  young  prkice 
of  the  Asturias  to  Spain.  This  lady,  who  had  been 
affianced  in  her  cradle  to  Charles  the  Eighth  of 
France,  had  received  her  education  in  the  court  of 
Paris.  On  her  intended  husband's  marriage  with 
the  heiress  of  Brittany,  she  had  been  returned  to 
her  native  land  under  circumstances  of  indignity 
never  to  be  forgiven  by  the  house  of  Austria.  She 
was  now  in  the  seventeenth  year  of  her  age,  and 
had  already  given  ample  promise  of  those  uncom- 
mon powers  of  mind,  which  distinguished  her  in 
riper  years,  and  of  which  she  has  left  abundant 
evidence  in  various  written  compositions. 17 

17  Peter  Martyr,  Opus  Epist.,  her  own  life,  have  been  collected 

cpist.  174.  —  Garibay,  Compendio,  into  a  single  volume,  under  the 

torn.  ii.  lib.  19,  cap.  G.  —  Gaillard,  title  of  "  La  Couronne  Margari- 

Rivalite,  torn.  iii.  pp.  410,  423.  —  tique,"  Lyons,  1519,  by  the  French 

Sandoval,  llistoria  del  Empcrador  writer  Jean  la  Maire  de  Beiges, 

Carlos  V.,  (Amberes,  1081,)  torn,  her  faithful  follower,  hut  whose 

1.  p.  2.  greatest  glory  it  is,  to  have  been 

These,  comprehending  her  verses,  the  instructer  of  Clement  Marot. 
public  addresses,  and  discourse  on 


ALLIANCES  AND  DEATHS. 


353 


On  her  passage  to  Spain,  in  mid  winter,  the  chapter 

fleet  encountered  such  tremendous  gales,  that  part   lJL  

of  it  was  shipwrecked,  and  Margaret's  vessel  had  5iVUfl™et.in 
wellnigh  foundered.  She  retained,  however,  suf- 
ficient composure  amidst  the  perils  of  her  situation, 
to  indite  her  own  epitaph,  in  the  form  of  a  pleasant 
distich,  which  Fontenelle  has  made  the  subject  of 
one  of  his  amusing  dialogues,  where  he  affects  to 
consider  the  fortitude  displayed  by  her  at  this  awful 
moment  as  surpassing  that  of  the  philosophic  Adrian 
in  his  dying  hour,  or  the  vaunted  heroism  of  Cato 
of  Utica. 18  Fortunately,  however,  Margaret's  epi- 
taph was  not  needed  ;  she  arrived  in  safety  at  the 
port  of  Santander  in  the  Asturias,  early  in  March, 
1497. 

The  young  prince  of  the  Asturias,  accompanied  Marriage  <h 

J  °    r  71  John  mid 

by  the  king  his  father,  hastened  towards  the  north  Maw»re»- 
to  receive  his  royal  mistress,  whom  they  met  and 
escorted  to  Burgos,  where  she  was  received  with 
the  highest  marks  of  satisfaction  by  the  queen  and 
the  whole  court.  Preparations  were  instantly  made 
for  solemnizing  the  nuptials  of  the  royal  pair,  after 
the  expiration  of  Lent,  in  a  style  of  magnificence 
such  as  had  never  before  been  witnessed  under  the 
present  reign.  The  marriage  ceremony  took  place 
on  the  3d  of  April,  and  was  performed  by  the  arch- 
bishop of  Toledo  in  the  presence  of  the  grandees 


^Fontenelle,  CEuvres,  torn.  i.  more  suited  to  Fontenelle's  habitual 

dial.  4.  taste,  than  the  imposing  scene  of 

.  „  Cato's  death.    Indeed,  the  French 

•  Ci  gist  Margot,  la  gentil'  damoiselle  notmut  wn<*  *n  tvpt-sp  to  «vii/-«  of 

Qu'o  deux  maris,  et  encore  est  pucelle."  satirist  was  so  averse  to  semes  ol 

all  kinds,  that  he  has  contrived  to 

It  must  be  allowed  that  Marga-  find  a  ridiculous  side  in  this  last  act 

ret's  quiet  nonchalance  was  much  of  the  patriot  Roman. 

vol.  II  45 


354 


THE  ROYAL  FAMILY. 


part     and  principal  nobility  of  Castile,  the  foreign  ambas- 

 sadors,  and  the  delegates  from  Aragon.  Among 

these  latter  were  the  magistrates  of  the  principal 
cities,  clothed  in  their  municipal  insignia  and  crim- 
son robes  of  office,  who  seem  to  have  had  quite  as 
important  parts  assigned  them  by  their  democratic 
communities,  in  this  and  all  similar  pageants,  as 
any  of  the  nobility  or  gentry.  The  nuptials  were 
followed  by  a  brilliant  succession  of  fetes,  tourneys, 
tilts  of  reeds,  and  other  warlike  spectacles,  in  which 
the  matchless  chivalry  of  Spain  poured  into  the 
lists  to  display  their  magnificence  and  prowess  in 
the  presence  of  their  future  queen.19  The  chroni- 
cles of  the  day  remark  on  the  striking  contrast,  ex- 
hibited at  these  entertainments,  between  the  gay 
and  familiar  manners  of  Margaret  and  her  Flemish 
nobles,  and  the  pomp  and  stately  ceremonial  of  the 
Castilian  court,  to  which,  indeed,  the  Austrian 
princess,  nurtured  as  she  had  been  in  a  Parisian 
atmosphere,  could  never  be  wholly  reconciled.20 

las  casas  de  Austria,  Borgonia,  y 
Francia,  sino  con  la  gravedad,  y 
mesurada  autoridad  de  los  Reyes 
y  naciones  de  Espafia  !  " 

The  sixth  volume  of  the  Spanish 
Academy  of  History  contains  an 
inventory,  taken  from  the  archives 
of  Simancas,  of  the  rich  plate  and 
jewels,  presented  to  the  princess 
Margaret  on  the  day  of  her  mar- 
riage. They  are  said  to  be  M  of 
such  value  and  perfect  workman- 
ship, that  the  like  was  never  before 
seen."  (Ilust.  11,  pp.  338-342.) 
Isabella  had  turned  these  baubles 
to  good  account  in  the  war  of 
Granada.  She  was  too  simple  in 
her  taste  to  attach  much  value  to 
luxury  of  apparel. 


19  That  these  were  not  mere 
holiday  sports,  was  proved  by  the 
melancholy  death  of  Alonso  de 
Cardenas,  son  of  the  comendador 
of  Leon,  who  lost  his  life  in  a 
tourney.  Oviedo,  Quincuagenas, 
MS.,  bat.  1,  quinc.  2,  dial.  1. 

20  Carbajal,  Angles,  MS.,  ano 
1497.  — Mariana,  Hist,  de  Espaila, 
torn.  ii.  lib.  26,  cap.  16.  —  Lanuza, 
Historias,  lib.  1,  cap.  8.  —  Abarca, 
Reyes  de  Aragon,  torn.  ii.  fol.  330. 

"  Y  aunque,"  says  the  last  au- 
thor, "  a  la  princessa  se  le  dexaron 
todos  sus  criados,  estilos,  y  entre- 
tenimientos,  se  la  advirtio,  que  en 
las  ceremonias  no  havia  de  tratar 
a  las  personas  Reales,  y  Grandes 
con  la  familiaridad  y  llaneza  de 


ALLIANCES  AiND  DEATHS. 


355 


The  marriage  of  the  heir  apparent  could  not  have  chapter 
been  celebrated  at  a  more  auspicious  period.  It  .  IV' 
was  in  the  midst  of  negotiations  for  a  general 
peace,  when  the  nation  might  reasonably  hope  to 
taste  the  sweets  of  repose,  after  so  many  uninter- 
rupted years  of  war.  Every  bosom  swelled  with 
exultation  in  contemplating  the  glorious  destinies 
of  their  country  under  the  beneficent  sway  of  a 
prince,  the  first  heir  of  the  hitherto  divided  mon- 
archies of  Spain.  Alas  !  at  the  moment  when  Fer- 
dinand and  Isabella,  blessed  in  the  affections  of 
their  people,  and  surrounded  by  all  the  trophies  of 
a  glorious  reign,  seemed  to  have  reached  the  very 
zenith  of  human  felicity,  they  were  doomed  to  re- 
ceive one  of  those  mournful  lessons,  which  admon- 
ish us  that  all  earthly  prosperity  is  but  a  dream. 21 

Not  long;  after  Prince  John's  marriage,  the  sover-  Secon<1  ™*r- 

°  °  nage  of  Prin- 

eigns  had  the  satisfaction  to  witness  that  of  their  cessIsabe,la 
daughter  Isabella,  who,  notwithstanding  her  repug- 
nance to  a  second  union,  had  yielded  at  length  to 
the  urgent  entreaties  of  her  parents  to  receive  the 
addresses  of  her  Portuguese  lover.  She  required 
as  the  price  of  this,  however,  that  Emanuel  should 
first  banish  the  Jews  from  his  dominions,  where 
they  had  bribed  a  resting-place  since  their  expul- 
sion from  Spain ;  a  circumstance  to  which  the  su- 


■  Tt  is  precisely  this  period,  or 
rather  the  whole  period  from  1493 
to  1197,  which  Oviedo  selects  as 
that  of  the  greatest  splendor  and 
festivity  at  the  court  of  the  Catho- 
lic sovereigns.  "  El  afio  de  1493, 
y  uno  6  dos  despues,  y  aun  hasta  el 
de  1497  ailos  fue  cuando  la  corte 


de  los  Reyes  Catolicos  Don  Fer- 
nando e  Dofia  Isabel  de  gloriosa 
memoria,  mas  alegres  tiempos  6 
mas  regozijados,  vino  en  su  corte, 
e  mas  encninhrada  andubo  la  gala  e 
las  fiestas  e  servicios  de  salaries  6 
damas."  Quincuagenas,  MS.,  bat. 
1,  quinc.  4,  dial.  44. 


356 


THE  ROYAL  FAMILY. 


part  perstitious  princess  imputed  the  misfortunes  which 
had  fallen  of  late  on  the  royal  house  of  Portugal. 
Emanuel,  whose  own  liberal  mind  revolted  at  this 
unjust  and  impolitic  measure,  was  weak  enough  to 
allow  his  passion  to  get  the  better  of  his  principles, 
and  passed  sentence  of  exile  on  every  Israelite  in 
his  kingdom  ;  furnishing,  perhaps,  the  only  exam- 
ple, in  which  love  has  been  made  one  of  the  thou- 
sand motives  for  persecuting  this  unhappy  race.  22 
s,„Men  in-       The  marriage,  ushered  in  under  such  ill-omened 

neas  of  0 

I'rince  John,  auspices,  was  celebrated  at  the  frontier  town  of  Va- 
lencia de  Alcantara,  in  the  presence  of  the  Catholic 
sovereigns,  without  pomp  or  parade  of  any  kind. 
While  they  were  detained  there,  an  express  arrived 
from  Salamanca,  bringing  tidings  of  the  dangerous 
illness  of  their  son,  the  prince  of  the  Asturias.  He 
had  been  seized  with  a  fever  in  the  midst  of  the  pub- 
lic rejoicings  to  which  his  arrival  with  his  youthful 
bride  in  that  city  had  given  rise.  The  symptoms 
speedily  assumed  an  alarming  character.  The 
prince's  constitution,  naturally  delicate,  though 
strengthened  by  a  life  of  habitual  temperance,  sunk 
under  the  violence  of  the  attack  ;  and  when  his 
father,  who  posted  with  all  possible  expedition  to 
Salamanca,  arrived  there,  no  hopes  were  entertain- 
ed of  his  recovery. 23 

22  Faria  y  Sousa,  Europa  Portu-  Hist,  del  Rey  Hernando,  torn.  v. 
guesa,  torn.  ii.  pp.  498,  499.—  fol.  127,  128.  —  La  Clede,  Hist,  d* 
La  Clede,  Hist,  de  Portugal,  torn.  Portugal,  torn.  iv.  p.  101. 
iv.  p.  95.— Zurita,  torn.  v.  lib.  3,  The  physicians  recommended  a 
cap.  6. —  Lanuza,  Historias,  ubi  temporary  separation  of  John  from 
supra,  his  young  bride  ;  a  remedy,  how- 
93  Carbajal,  Anales,  MS.,  a  Ho  ever,  which  the  queen  opposed 
1497. —  Florez,  Reynas  Calholicas,  from  conscientious  scruples  some- 
torn,  ii.  pp.  846.  848. — Zurita,  what  singular.  "  Hortantur  medici 


ALLIANCES  AND  DEATHS. 


357 


Ferdinand,  however,  endeavoured  to  cheer  his  chapter 

son  with  hopes  which  he  did  not  feel  himself ;  but   —  

the  young  prince  told  him  that  it  was  too  late  to  be 
deceived  ;  that  he  was  prepared  to  part  with  a 
world,  which  in  its  best  estate  was  filled  with  vanity 
and  vexation  ;  and  that  all  he  now  desired  was, 
that  his  parents  might  feel  the  same  sincere  resig- 
nation to  the  divine  will,  which  he  experienced 
himself.  Ferdinand  gathered  new  fortitude  from 
the  example  of  his  heroic  son,  whose  presages  were 
unhappily  too  soon  verified.  He  expired  on  the  4th  im death, 
of  October,  1497,  in  the  twentieth  year  of  his  age, 
in  the  same  spirit  of  Christian  philosophy  which  he 
had  displayed  during  his  whole  illness. 24 

Ferdinand,  apprehensive  of  the  effect  which  the 
abrupt  intelligence  of  this  calamity  might  have  on 
the  queen,  caused  letters  to  be  sent  at  brief  inter- 
vals, containing  accounts  of  the  gradual  decline  of 
the  prince's  health,  so  as  to  prepare  her  for  the 
inevitable  stroke.  Isabella,  however,  who  through 
all  her  long  career  of  prosperous  fortune  may  be 
said  to  have  kept  her  heart  in  constant  training 

Reginam,  hortatur  et  Rex,  at  a  24  Peter  Martyr,  Opus  Epist., 

principis  latere  Margaritamaliqnan-  epist.  182. —  L.  Marineo,  Cosas 

do  semoveat,  interpellet.  Inducias  Memorables,  fol.  182. — Carbajal, 

precantur.  Protestantur  periculum  Anales,  MS.,  afio  1497.  —  Oviedo, 

ex  frequenti  copula  ephebo  immi-  Quincuagenas,  MS.,  dial,  de  Deza. 

ne-re  ;  qualiter  euffi  suxerit,  quamve  Peter  Martyr,  in  more  of  a  clas- 

subtristis  incedat,  consideret  ite-  sic  than  a  Christian  vein,  refers 

rum  atque  iterum  monent ;  medul-  Prince  John's  composure  in  his  lat- 

las  la?di,  stomachum  hebetari  se  ter  hours  to  his  familiarity  with  the 

BOHtin  Reginae  renunciant.    Inter-  divine  Aristotle.    "  iEtatem  qua; 

oidat,  dum  licet,  obstetque  prin-  ferebat  superabat ;  nec  mirum  ta- 

cipiis,    instant.     Nil    proficiunt.  men.     Perlegerat   namque  divini 

Respondet  Regina,  homines   non  Aristotelis    pleraque  volumina," 

oportere,  quos  Deus  jujrali  vinculo  &c.    Ubi  supra, 
junxerit,  separare."  Peter  Martyr, 
Opus  Epist.,  epist.  176. 


[568 


THE  ROYAL  FAMILY. 


part  for  the  dark  hour  of  adversity,  received  the  fatal 
_  tidings  in  a  spirit  of  meek  and  humble  acquies- 
cence, testifying  her  resignation  in  the  beautiful 
language  of  Scripture,  "  The  Lord  hath  given,  and 
the  Lord  hath  taken  away,  blessed  be  his  name !  " 23 
"toriSl?le  "  Thus,"  says  Martyr,  who  had  the  melancholy 
satisfaction  of  rendering  the  last  sad  offices  to  his 
royal  pupil,  "was  laid  low  the  hope  of  all  Spain/' 
"  Never  was  there  a  death,"  says  another  chron- 
icler, "  w  hich  occasioned  such  deep  and  general 
lamentation  throughout  the  land."  All  the  un- 
availing honors  which  affection  could  devise  were 
paid  to  his  memory.  His  funeral  obsequies  were 
celebrated  with  melancholy  splendor,  and  his  le- 
mains  deposited  in  the  noble  Dominican  monastery 
of  St.  Thomas  at  Avila,  which  had  been  erected 
by  his  parents.  The  court  put  on  a  new  and 
deeper  mourning  than  that  hitherto  used,  as  if  to 
testify  their  unwonted  grief.26  All  offices,  public 
and  private,  were  closed  for  forty  days ;  and  sable- 
colored  banners  were  suspended  from  the  walls  and 
portals  of  the  cities.  Such  extraordinary  tokens  of 
public  sorrow  bear  strong  testimony  to  the  interest 
felt  in  the  young  prince,  independently  of  his  ex- 


25  Peter  Martyr,  Opus  Epist., 
epist.  183. 

Martyr  draws  an  affecting  pic- 
ture of  the  anguish  of  the  bereaved 
parents,  which  betrayed  itself  in 
looks  more  eloquent  than  words. 
"  Reges  tantam  dissimulare  aerum- 
nam  nituntur  ;  ast  nos  prostratum 
in  internis  ipsorum  animum  cerni- 
mus  ;  ocuios  alter  in  faciem  altorius 
crebro  conjiciunt,  in  propatulo  se- 
dentes.  Unde  quid  lateat  proditur. 


Nimirum  tamen,  desinerent  huma- 
na  came  vestiti  esse  homines, 
essentque  adamante  duriores,  nisi 
quid  amiserint  sentirent." 

25  Blancas,  Coronaciones  de  los 
vSerenissimos  Reyes  de  Aragon, 
(Zaragoza,  1041,)  lib.  3,  cap.  18.  — 
Garibay,  Compendio,  torn.  ii.  lib. 
19,  cap.  G.  —  Sackcloth  was  sub- 
stituted for  the  white  serge,  which 
till  this  time  had  been  used  as  the 
mourning  dress. 


ALLIANCES  AND  DEATHS. 


359 


alted  station  ;  similar,  and  perhaps  more  unequivocal  chapter 
evidence  of  his  worth,  is  afforded  by  abundance  of  — — — 
contemporary  notices,  not  merely  in  works  designed 
for  the  public,  but  in  private  correspondence.  The 
learned  Martyr,  in  particular,  whose  situation,  as 
prince  John's  preceptor,  afforded  him  the  best  op- 
portunities of  observation,  is  unbounded  in  com- 
mendations of  his  royal  pupil,  whose  extraordinary 
promise  of  intellectual  and  moral  excellence  had 
furnished  him  with  the  happiest,  alas !  delusive 
auguries,  for  the  future  destiny  of  his  country.27 

By  the  death  of  John  without  heirs,  the  succes-  The  king 
sion  devolved  on  his  eldest  sister,  the  queen  of  Por-  °r  p°ji"g''» 

7  1  visit  hpam. 

tugal.28  Intelligence,  however,  was  received  soon 
after  that  event,  that  the  archduke  Philip,  with  the 
restless  ambition  which  distinguished  him  in  later 


27  Peter  Martyr,  Opus  Epist., 
epist.  182. — Garibay,  Compendio, 
tom.  ii.  lib.  19,  cap.  6.  —  L.  Mari- 
neo,  Cosas  Memorables,  fol.  182.  — 
Blancas,  Coronaciones,  p.  248. 

It  must,  be  allowed  to  furnish  no 
mean  proof  of  the  excellence  of 
Prince  John's  heart,  that  it  was 
not  corrupted  by  the  liberal  doses 
of  flattery  with  which  his  worthy 
tutor  was  in  the  habit  of  regaling 
him,  from  time  to  time.  Take  the 
beginning-  of  one  of  Martyr's  letters 
to  his  pupil,  in  the  following  mod- 
est strain.  "  Mirande  in  pueritia 
senex,  salve.  Quotquot  tecum  ver- 
santur  homines,  sive  genere  pol- 
leant,  sive  ad  obsequium  fortunae 
humiliores  destinati  ministri,  te 
laudant,  extollunt,  admirantur." 
Opus  Epist.,  epist.  98. 

98  Hopes  were  entertained  of  a 
male  heir  at  the  time  of  John's 
death,  as  his  widow  was  left  preg- 
nant ;  but  these  were  frustrated  by 
her  being  delivered  of  a  still-born 


infant  at  the  end  of  a  few  months. 
Margaret  did  not  continue  long  in 
Spain.  She  experienced  the  most 
affectionate  treatment  from  the  king 
and  queen,  who  made  her  an  ex- 
tremely liberal  provision.  (Zurita, 
Hist,  del  Rey  Hernando,  tom.  v. 
lib.  3,  cap.  4.)  But  her  Flemish 
followers  could  not  reconcile  them- 
selves to  the  reserve  and  burden- 
some ceremonial  of  the  Castilian 
court,  so  different  from  the  free  and 
jocund  life  to  which  they  had  been 
accustomed  at  home  :  and  they  pre- 
vailed on  their  mistress  to  return  to 
her  native  land  in  the  course  of  the 
year  1499.  She  was  subsequently 
married  to  the  duke  of  Savoy,  who 
died  without  issue  in  less  than 
three  years,  and  Margaret  passed 
the  remainder  of  her  life  in  widow- 
hood, being  appointed  by  her  fa- 
ther, the  emperor,  to  the  govern- 
ment of  the  Netherlands,  which 
she  administered  with  ability.  She 
died  in  1530. 


THE  ROYAL  FAMILY. 


fart  life,  had  assumed  for  himself  and  his  wife  Joanna 
—  —  the  title  of  44  princes  of  Castile."  Ferdinand  and 
Isabella,  disgusted  with  this  proceeding,  sent  to 
request  the  attendance  of  the  king  and  queen  of 
Portugal  in  Castile,  in  order  to  secure  a  recognition 
of  their  rights  by  the  national  legislature.  The 
royal  pair,  accordingly,  in  obedience  to  the  sum- 
mons, quitted  their  capital  of  Lisbon,  early  in  the 
spring  of  1498.  In  their  progress  through  the 
country,  they  were  magnificently  entertained  at 
the  castles  of  the  great  Castilian  lords,  and  towards 
the  close  of  April  reached  the  ancient  city  of  Tole- 
do, where  the  cortes  had  been  convened  to  receive 
them.29 

After  the  usual  oaths  of  recognition  had  been  ten- 
dered, without  opposition,  by  the  different  branches 
to  the  Portuguese  princes,  the  court  adjourned  to 
Saragossa,  where  the  legislature  of  Aragon  was 
assembled  for  a  similar  purpose. 

Some  apprehensions  were  entertained,  however, 
of  the  unfavorable  disposition  of  that  body,  since 
the  succession  of  females  was  not  countenanced  bv 


29  Marina  has  transcribed  from  their  suite  by  the  Spanish  sove- 

the  archives  of  Toledo  the  writ  of  reigns.     "Queen    Isabella,"  he 

summons  to  that  city  on  this  occa-  says,  "  appeared  leaning-  on  the 

sion.    Teoria,  torn.  ii.  p.   16. —  arm  of  her  old  favorite  Gutierre  de 

Zurita,  Hist,  del  Rey  Hernando,  Cardenas,  comendador  of  Leon,  and 

torn.  v.  lib.  3,  cap.  18.  —  Bernaldez,  of  a  Portuguese  noble,  Don  Juan 

Reyes  Catolicos,  MS.,  cap.  154.  —  de  Sousa.    The  latter  took  care  to 

La  Clede,  Hist,  de  Portugal,  torn,  acquaint  her  with  the  rank  and 

iv.   p.    101. — Caibajal,  Anales,  condition  of  each  of  his  country- 

MS.,  afio  1498.  —  Faria  y  Sousa,  men,  as  they  were  presented,  in 

Europa  Portuguesa,  torn.  ii.  pp.  order  that  she  might  the  better  ad- 

500,  501.  just  the  measure  of  condescension 

The  last  writer  expatiates  with  and  courtesy  due  to  each  ;  a  perilous 

great  satisfaction  on   the  stately  obligation,"  he  continues,  "with 

etiquette  observed  at  the  reception  all  nations,  but  with  the  Portu- 

of  the  Portuguese  monarchs  and  guese  most  perilous:" 


ALLIANCES  AND  DEATHS. 


361 


the  ancient  usage  of  the  country ;  and  the  Ara-  chapter 
gonese,  as  Martyr  remarks  in  one  of  his  Epistles,  — 
"  were  well  known  to  be  a  pertinacious  race,  who 
would  leave  no  stone  unturned,  in  the  maintenance 
of  their  constitutional  rights."  30 

These  apprehensions  were  fully  realized ;  for,  no  {^Jg*}00- 
sooner  was  the  object  of  the  present  meeting  laid  reco^nition- 
before  cortes  in  a  speech  from  the  throne,  with 
which  parliamentary  business  in  Aragon  was  always 
opened,  than  decided  opposition  was  manifested  to 
a  proceeding,  which  it  was  declared  had  no  pre- 
cedent in  their  history.  The.  succession  of  the 
crown,  it  was  contended,  had  been  limited  by  re- 
peated testaments  of  their  princes  to  male  heirs, 
and  practice  and  public  sentiment  had  so  far  co- 
incided with  this,  that  the  attempted  violation  of 
the  rule  by  Peter  the  Fourth,  in  favor  of  his  own 
daughters,  had  plunged  the  nation  in  a  civil  war. 
It  was  further  urged  that  by  the  will  of  the  very 
last  monarch,  John  the  Second,  it  was  provided  that 
the  crown  should  descend  to  the  male  issue  of  his 
son  Ferdinand,  and  in  default  of  such  to  the  male 
issue  of  Ferdinand's  daughters,  to  the  entire  exclu- 
sion of  the  females.  At  all  events,  it  was  better 
to  postpone  the  consideration  of  this  matter  until 
the  result  of  the  queen  of  Portugal's  pregnancy, 
then  far  advanced,  should  be  ascertained ;  since, 
should  it  prove  to  be  a  son,  all  doubts  of  constitu- 
tional validity  would  be  removed. 

M  Peter  Martyr,  Opus  Epist.,    ana,  Hist,  de  Espaiia,  torn.  ii.  Jib. 
epist.  194.  —  Abarca,  Reyes  de    27,  cap.  3. 
Aragon,  torn.  ii.  fol.  334.  —  Mari- 


VOL.  II. 


46 


THE  ROYAL  FAMILY. 


In  answer  to  these  objections,  it  was  stated,  that 
no  express  law  existed  in  Aragon  excluding  females 
from  the  succession  ;  that  an  example  had  already 
occurred,  as  far  back  indeeu  as  the  twelfth  century, 
of  a  queen  who  held  the  crown  in  her  own  right  ; 
that  the  acknowledged  power  of  females  to  trans- 
mit the  right  of  succession  necessarily  inferred  that 
right  existing  in  themselves ;  that  the  present  mon- 
arch had  doubtless  as  competent  authority  as  his 
predecessors  to  regulate  the  law  of  inheritance,  and 
that  his  act,  supported  by  the  supreme  authority  of 
cortes,  might  set  aside  any  former  disposition  of  the 
crown  ;  that  this  interference  was  called  for  by  the 
present  opportunity  of  maintaining  the  permanent 
union  of  Castile  and  Aragon  ;  without  which  they 
must  otherwise  return  to  their  ancient  divided 
state,  and  comparative  insignificance.31 

These  arguments,  however  cogent,  were  far  from 
being  conclusive  with  the  opposite  party  ;  and  the 
debate  was  protracted  to  such  length,  that  Isabella, 
impatient  of  an  opposition  to  what  the  practice  in 
her  own  dominions  had  taught  her  to  regard  as  the 
inalienable  right  of  her  daughter,  inconsiderately 
exclaimed,  "  It  would  be  better  to  reduce  the  coun- 


31  Blancas,  Commentarii,  p.  273. 
—  Idem,  Coronaciones,  lib.  i,  cap. 
18.  —  Mariana,  Hist,  de  Espafia, 
torn.  ii.  lib.  27,  cap.  3. — Zurita, 
Hist,  del  Rey  Hernando,  torn.  v. 
fol.  55,  56. 

It  is  remarkable  that  the  Ara- 
gouese  should  so  readily  have  ac- 
quiesced in  the  right  of  females  to 
convey  a  title  to  the  crown  which 
they  could  not  enjoy  themselves. 
This  was  precisely  the  principle  on 


which  Edward  III.  set  up  his  claim 
to  the  throne  of  France,  a  princi- 
ple too  repugnant  to  the  common- 
est rules  of  inheritance  to  obtain 
any  countenance.  The  exclusion 
of  females  in  Aragon  could  not 
pretend  to  be  founded  on  any  ex- 
press law,  as  in  France,  but  the 
practice,  with  the  exception  of  a 
single  example  three  centuries  old, 
was  quite  as  uniform. 


ALLIANCES  AND  DEATHS. 


363 


try  by  arms  at  once,  than  endure  this  insolence  of  chapter 

the  cortes."    To  which  Antonio  de  Fonseca,  the   1^  

same  cavalier  who  spoke  his  mind  so  fearlessly  to 
King  Charles  the  Eighth,  on  his  march  to  Naples, 
had  the  independence  to  reply,  "  That  the  Ara- 
gonese  had  only  acted  as  good  and  loyal  subjects, 
who,  as  they  were  accustomed  to  mind  their  oaths, 
considered  well  before  they  took  them ;  and  that 
they  must  certainly  stand  excused  if  they  moved 
with  caution  in  an  affair,  which  they  found  so  diffi- 
cult to  justify  by  precedent  in  their  history."32 
This  blunt  expostulation  of  the  honest  courtier, 
equally  creditable  to  the  sovereign  who  could  en- 
dure, and  the  subject  who  could  make  it,  was  re- 
ceived in  the  frank  spirit  in  which  it  was  given, 
and  probably  opened  Isabella's  eyes  to  her  own 
precipitancy,  as  we  find  no  further  allusion  to  coer- 
cive measures. 

Before  any  thing  was  determined,  the  discussion  Hwdaugh- 

J  °  ters  death. 

was  suddenly  brought  to  a  close  by  an  unforeseen 
and  most  melancholy  event,  —  the  death  of  the 
queen  of  Portugal,  the  unfortunate  subject  of  it. 
That  princess  had  possessed  a  feeble  constitution 
from  her  birth,  with  a  strong  tendency  to  pulmonary 
complaints.  She  had  early  felt  a  presentiment  that 
she  should  not  survive  the  birth  of  her  child  ;  this 
feeling  strengthened  as  she  approached  the  period 

32  Blancas,  Coronaciones,  lib.  3,  among  half  a  dozen  others,  whom 

cap.  18.  —  Zurita,  Hist,  del  Rey  she  particularly  recommended  to 

Hernando,  torn.  v.  lib.  3,  cap.  30.  her  successors  for  their  meritorious 

It  is  a  proof  of  the  high  esteem  and  loyal  services.    See  the  docu- 

in  which  Isabella  held  this  inde-  ment  in  Dormer,  Discursos  Varios, 

pendent  statesman,  that  we  find  his  p.  354. 
name  mentioned  in  her  testament 


3(54 


THE  ROVAL  FAMILY. 


pahi     of  her  delivery;  and  in  less  than  one  hour  after 

 —  that  event,  which  took  place  on  the  23d  of  August, 

1498,  she  expired  in  the  arms  of  her  afflicted 
parents.33 

it* effect* on      This  blow  was  almost  too  much  for  the  unhappy 

Isabella.  1  1  J 

mother,  whose  spirits  had  not  yet  had  time  to  rally, 
since  the  death  of  her  only  son.  She.  indeed,  ex- 
hibited the  outward  marks  of  composure,  testifying 
the  entire  resignation  of  one  who  had  learned  to 
rest  her  hopes  of  happiness  on  a  better  world. 
She  schooled  herself  so  far,  as  to  continue  to  take 
an  interest  in  all  her  public  duties,  and  to  watch 
over  the  common  weal  with  the  same  maternal  so- 
licitude as  before  ;  but  her  health  gradually  sunk 
under  this  accumulated  load  of  sorrow,  which 
threw  a  deep  shade  of  melancholy  over  the  evening 
of  her  life. 

The  infant,  whose  birth  had  cost  so  dear,  proved 
a  male,  and  received  the  name  of  Miguel,  in  honor 
of  the  saint  on  whose  day  he  first  saw  the  light. 
In  order  to  dissipate,  in  some  degree,  the  general 
gloom  occasioned  by  the  late  catastrophe,  it  was 
thought  best  to  exhibit  the  young  prince  before  the 
eyes  of  his  future  subjects  ;  and  he  was  accordingly 
borne  in  the  arms  of  his  nurse,  in  a  magnificent 
litter,  through  the  streets  of  the  city,  escorted  by 
the  principal  nobility.  Measures  were  then  taken 
for  obtaining  the  sanction  of  his  legitimate  claims 
to  the  crown.    Whatever  doubts  had  been  enter- 

33  Carhajal,  Anales,  MS.,  alios    Faria  y  Sousa,  Europa  Portuguesa, 
1470,  1498.  —  Florez,  Reynas  Ca-    torn.  ii.  p.  504. 
tliulicas,  torn.  ii.  pp.  846,  847. — 


ALLIANCES  AND  DEATHS.  365 

tained  of  the  validity  of  ihc  mother's  title,  there  chapter 

•  •  IV 

eould  be  none  whatever  of  the  child's  ;  since  those  —  '  - 
who  denied  the  right  of  females  to  inherit  for  them- 
selves, admitted  their  power  of  conveying  such  a 
right  to  male  issue.  As  a  preliminary  step  to  the 
public  recognition  of  the  prince,  it  was  necessary 
to  name  a  guardian,  who  should  be  empowered  to 
make  the  requisite  engagements,  and  to  act  in  his 
behalf.  The  Justice  of  Aragon,  in  his  official  ca- 
pacity, after  due  examination,  appointed  the  grand- 
parents, Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  to  the  office  of 
guardians  during  his  minority,  which  would  expire 
by  law  at  the  age  of  fourteen.34 

On  Saturday,  the  22d  of  September,  when  the  p^nce  hi- 

J  '  1  gild's  recog- 

queen  had  sufficiently  recovered  from  a  severe  nition- 
illness  brought  on  by  her  late  sufferings,  the  four 
arms  of  the  cortes  of  Aragon  assembled  in  the 
house  of  deputation  at  Saragossa ;  and  Ferdinand 
and  Isabella  made  oath  as  guardians  of  the  heir 
apparent,  before  the  Justice,  not  to  exercise  any 
jurisdiction  whatever  in  the  name  of  the  young 
prince  during  his  minority ;  engaging,  moreover,  as 
far  as  in  their  power,  that,  on  his  coming  of  age,  he 
should  swear  to  respect  the  laws  and  liberties  of 
the  realm,  before  entering  on  any  of  the  rights  of 
sovereignty  himself.  The  four  estates  then  took 
the  oath  of  fealty  to  Prince  Miguel,  as  lawful  heir 
and   successor  to  the  crown  of  Aragon  ;  with  the 

:{*  Blaneas,    Oommentarii,    pp.  Alvaro  Gomez,  De  Rebus  Gestis 

510.  511.  —  Idem,  Coronaciones,  a   Francisco   Ximenio  Cisnerio, 

lib.  3,  cap.  19.—  Geronimo  Martel,  (Compluti,  1500,)  fol.  28.  —  La- 

Forma  de  Celebrar  Cortes  en  Ara-  nuza,  Historias,  lib.  1,  cap.  9. 
gon,  (Zaragoza,  1611,)  cap.  44. — 


THE  ROYAL  FAMILY. 


protestation,  that  it  should  not  be  construed  into  a 
precedent  for  exacting  such  an  oath  hereafter  dur- 
ing the  minority  of  the  heir  apparent.  With  such 
watchful  attention  to  constitutional  forms  of  pro- 
cedure, did  the  people  of  Aragon  endeavour  to 
secure  their  liberties  ;  forms,  which  continued  to 
be  observed  in  later  times,  long  after  those  liberties 
had  been  swept  away.35 

In  the  month  of  January,  of  the  ensuing  year, 
the  young  prince's  succession  was  duly  confirmed 
by  the  cortes  of  Castile,  and,  in  the  following 
March,  by  that  of  Portugal.  Thus,  for  once,  the 
crowns  of  the  three  monarchies  of  Castile,  Aragon, 
and  Portugal  were  suspended  over  one  head.  The 
Portuguese,  retaining  the  bitterness  of  ancient  ri- 
valry, looked  with  distrust  at  the  prospect  of  a 
union,  fearing,  with  some  reason,  that  the  impor- 
tance of  the  lesser  state  would  be  wholly  merged 
in  that  of  the  greater.  But  the  untimely  death  of 
the  destined  heir  of  these  honors,  which  took  place 
before  he  had  completed  his  second  year,  removed 
the  causes  of  jealousy,  and  defeated  the  only 
chance,  which  had  ever  occurred,  of  bringing  under 
the  same  rule  three  independent  nations,  which, 


35  Blancas,  Coronaciones,  ubi 
supra.  —  Idem,  Commentarii,  pp. 
510,  511. 

The  reverence  of  the  Aragonese 
for  their  institutions  is  shown  in 
their  observance  of  the  most  insig- 
nificant ceremonies.  A  remarkable 
instance  of  this  occurred  in  the 
year  1481,  at  Saragossa,  when  the 
queen  having  been  constituted  lieu- 
tenant general  of  the  kingdom,  and 


duly  qualified  to  hold  a  cortes  in 
the  absence  of  the  king  her  hus- 
band, who,  by  the  ancient  laws  of 
the  land,  was  required  to  preside 
over  it  in  person,  it  was  deemed 
necessary  to  obtain  a  formal  act  of 
the  legislature,  for  opening  the 
door  for  her  admission.  See  Blan- 
cas, Modo  de  Proceder  en  Cortes 
de  Aragon,  (Zaragoza,  1641,)  fol 
82,  83. 


ALLIANCES  AND  DEATHS. 


3(37 


from  their  common  origin,  their  geographical  posi-  ciiapteb 
tion,  and,  above  all,  their  resemblance  in  manners, 
sentiments,  and  language,  would  seem  to  have 
originally  been  intended  to  form  but  one.36 


*  Faria  y  Sousa,  Europa  Por- 
tuguesa,  torn.  ii.  pp.  504,  507.  — 
liernaldez,  Reyes  Catolicos,  MS., 
cap.  154.— Carbajal,  Anales,  MS., 


ailo  1499.— Zurita,  Hist,  del  Rey 
Hernando,  torn.  v.  lib.  3,  cap.  33. 
—  Sandoval,  Hist,  del  Emp.  Corloa 
V.,  torn.  i.  p.  4. 


CHAPTER  V. 


DEATH  OF  CARDINAL  MENDOZA.  —  RISE  OF  XIMENES.  — 

ECCLESIASTICAL  REFORM. 


Death  of  Mendoza.  —  His  Early  Life,  and  Character.  —  The  Queen  his 
Executor.  —  Origin  of  Ximenes.  —  He  enters  the  Franciscan  Order. — 
His  Ascetic  Life.  —  Confessor  to  the  Queen.  —  Made  Archbishop  of 
Toledo.  —  Austerity  of  his  Life.  —  Reform  of  the  Monastic  Orders. 
—  Insults  offered  to  the  Queen.  —  She  consents  to  the  Reform 


part  In  the  beginning  of  1495,  the  sovereigns  lost 
 - —  their  old  and  faithful  minister,  the  grand  cardinal 

Death  of  0 

Mendoza.  0f  Spain,  Don  Pedro  Gonzalez  de  Mendoza.  He 
was  the  fourth  son  of  the  celebrated  marquis  of 
Santillana,  and  was  placed  by  his  talents  at  the 
head  of  a  family,  every  member  of  which  must  be 
allowed  to  have  exhibited  a  rare  union  of  public 
and  private  virtue.  The  cardinal  reached  the  age 
of  sixty-six,  when  his  days  were  terminated  after  a 
long  and  painful  illness,  on  the  11th  of  January,  at 
his  palace  of  Guadalaxara. 1 


1  Carbajal,  Anales,  MS.,  afio 
1495.  —  Salnzar  de  Mendoza,  Cron. 
del  Gran  Cardenal,  lib.  2,  cap. 
45,  46.  —  Zurita,  Anales,  torn.  v. 
fol.  61.  —  Pulgar,  Claros  Varones, 
tit.  4. 

His  disorder  was  an  abscess  on 
the  kidneys,  which  confined  him  to 
the  house  nearly  a  year  before  his 
death.  When  this  event  happened, 
a  white  cross  of  extraordinary  mag- 


nitude and  splendor,  shaped  pre- 
cisely like  that  on  his  arms,  was 
seen  in  the  heavens  directly  over 
his  house,  by  a  crowd  of  specta- 
tors, for  more  than  two  hours  ;  a 
full  account  of  which  was  duly 
transmitted  to  Rome  by  the  Span- 
ish court,  and  has  obtained  easy 
credit  with  the  principal  Spanish 
historians. 


MONASTIC  REFORMS. 


In  the  unhappy  feuds  between  Henry  the  Fourth  chapter 
and  his  younger  brother  Alfonso,  the  cardinal  had  v 
remained  faithful  to  the  former.    But  on  the  death  "e.early 
of  that  monarch,  he  threw  his  whole  weight,  with 
that  of  his  powerful  family,  into  the  scale  of  Isa- 
bella, whether  influenced  by  a  conviction  of  her 
superior  claims,  or  her  capacity  for  government. 
This  was  a  most  important  acquisition  to  the  royal 
cause  ;  and  Mendoza's  consummate  talents  for  busi- 
ness, recommended  by  the  most  agreeable  address, 
secured  him  the  confidence  of  both  Ferdinand  and 
Isabella,  who  had  long  been  disgusted  with  the 
rash  and  arrogant  bearing  of  their  old  minister, 
Carillo. 

On  the  death  of  that  turbulent  prelate,  Mendoza 
succeeded  to  the  archiepiscopal  see  of  Toledo.  His 
new  situation  naturally  led  to  still  more  intimate 
relations  with  the  sovereigns,  who  uniformly  defer- 
red to  his  experience,  consulting  him  on  all  im- 
portant matters,  not  merely  of  a  public,  but  of  a 
private  nature.  In  short,  he  gained  such  ascen- 
dency in  the  cabinet,  during  a  long  ministry  of  more 
than  twenty  years,  that  he  was  pleasantly  called  by 
the  courtiers  the  "  third  king  of  Spain."2 


2  Alvaro  Gomez  says  of  him, 
14  Nam  praeter  clarissimum  turn 
natalium,  turn  fortunae,  turn  digni- 
tatis splendorem,  quae  in  illo  orna- 
menta  summa  erant,  incredibilem 
animi  sublimitatem  cum  pari  mo- 
rum  facilitate,  elegantiaque  con- 
junxerat ;  ut  merito  locum  in  re- 
publica  summo  proximum  ad  su- 
premum  usque  diem  tenuerit." 
(De  Rebus  Gesiis,  fol.  9.)  Mar 


tyr,  noticing-  the  cardinal's  death, 
bestows  the  following  brief  but 
comprehensive  panegyric  on  him. 
"  Periit  Gonsalus  Mendotia?,  domus 
splendor  et  lucida  fax  ;  periit  quern 
universa  colebat  Hispania,  quern 
exteri  etiam  principes  veneraban- 
tur,  quern  ordo  cardineus  collegain. 
sibi  esse  gloriabatur . 5 '  Opus  Epist. 
epist.  158. 


VOL.  M. 


4/ 


370 


RISE  OF  XIMENES. 


part  The  minister  did  not  abuse  the  confidence  so 
 ■ —  generously  reposed  in  him.    He  called  the  atten- 

Andcharac-      ,  _     .  .  . 

ter  tion  01  his  royal  mistress  to  objects  most  deserving 

it.  His  views  were  naturally  grand  and  lofty ;  and, 
if  he  sometimes  yielded  to  the  fanatical  impulse 
of  the  age,  he  never  failed  to  support  her  heartily  in 
every  generous  enterprise  for  the  advancement  of 
her  people.  When  raised  to  the  rank  of  primate 
of  Spain,  he  indulged  his  natural  inclination  for 
pomp  and  magnificence.  He  filled  his  palace  with 
pages,  selected  from  the  noblest  families  in  the 
kingdom,  whom  he  carefully  educated.  He  main- 
tained a  numerous  body  of  armed  retainers,  which, 
far  from  being  a  mere  empty  pageant,  formed  a 
most  effective  corps  for  public  service  on  all  requi- 
site occasions.  He  dispensed  the  immense  reve- 
nues of  his  bishopric  with  the  same  munificent 
hand  which  has  so  frequently  distinguished  the 
Spanish  prelacy,  encouraging  learned  men,  and  en- 
dowing public  institutions.  The  most  remarkable 
of  these  were  the  college  of  Santa  Cruz  at  Vallado- 
lid,  and  the  hospital  of  the  same  name  for  found- 
lings at  Toledo,  the  erection  of  which,  completed 
at  his  sole  charge,  consumed  more  than  ten  years 
each.3 

Hi<  amoure.  The  cardinal,  in  his  younger  days,  was  occasion- 
ally seduced  by  those  amorous  propensities,  in 
which  the  Spanish  clergy  freely  indulged,  contam- 
inated, perhaps,  by  the  example  of  their  Mahom- 
etan neighbours.    He  left  several  children  by  his 

3  Salazar  de  Mendoza,  Cron.  del  Gran  Cardenal,  pp  2bo    273,  381 
-410. 


MONASTIC  REFORMS. 


371 


amours  with  two  ladies  of  rank,  from  whom  some  ciiapteb 
of  the  best  houses  in  the  kingdom  are  descended.  4  V 
A  characteristic  anecdote  is  recorded  of  him  in 
relation  to  this  matter.  An  ecclesiastic,  who  one 
day  delivered  a  discourse  in  his  presence,  took  oc- 
casion to  advert  to  the  laxity  of  the  age,  in  general 
terms,  indeed,  but  bearing  too  pertinent  an  applica- 
tion to  the  cardinal  to  be  mistaken.  The  attend- 
ants of  the  latter  boiled  with  indignation  at  the 
preacher's  freedom,  whom  they  determined  to  chas- 
tise for  his  presumption.  They  prudently,  howev- 
er, postponed  this  until  they  should  see  what  effect 
the  discourse  had  on  their  master.  The  cardinal, 
far  from  betraying  any  resentment,  took  no  other 
notice  of  the  preacher  than  to  send  him  a  dish  of 
choice  game,  which  had  been  served  up  at  his  own 
table,  where  he  was  entertaining  a  party  of  friends 
that  day,  accompanying  it  at  the  same  time,  by  way 
of  sauce,  with  a  substantial  donative  of  gold  doblas  ; 
an  act  of  Christian  charity  not  at  all  to  the  taste  of 
his  own  servants.  It  wrought  its  effects  on  the 
worthy  divine,  who  at  once  saw  the  error  of  his 
ways,  and,  the  next  time  he  mounted  the  pulpit, 
took  care  to  frame  his  discourse  in  such  a  manner 
as  to  counteract  the  former  unfavorable  impressions, 
to  the  entire  satisfaction,  if  not  edification  of  his 
audience.  "  Now-a-days,"  says  the  honest  biog- 
rapher who  reports  the  incident,  himself  a  lineal 
descendant  of  the  cardinal,  "  the  preacher  would 

4  "Gran  varon,  y  muy  experi-  vida,  tuvo  tres  hijos  varones,"  &c. 

mentado  y  prudente  en  negocios,"  Then  follows  a  full  notice  of  this 

says  Oviedo  of  the  cardinal,  "  pero  graceless  progeny.  Quincuagenas, 

a  vueltas  dc  las  ncgociaciones  desta  MS.,  bat.  1,  quinc.  1,  dial.  8. 


'612 


RISE  OF  XIMENES. 


part     not  have  escaped  so  easily.  And  with  good  reason; 

 J  for  the  holy  Gospel  should  be  discreetly  preached , 

4  cum  grano  salis,'  that  is  to  say,  with  the  decorum 
and  deference  due  to  majesty  and  men  of  high 
estate.  "  5 

The  queen       When  cardinal  Mendoza's  illness  assumed  an 

Ins  executor. 

alarming  aspect,  the  court  removed  to  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Guadalaxara,  where  he  was  confined. 
The  king  and  queen,  especially  the  latter,  with  the 
affectionate  concern  which  she  manifested  for  more 
than  one  of  her  faithful  subjects,  used  to  visit  him 
in  person,  testifying  her  sympathy  for  his  sufferings, 
and  benefiting  by  the  lights  of  the  sagacious  mind, 
which  had  so  long  helped  to  guide  her.  She  still 
further  showed  her  regard  for  her  old  minister  by 
condescending  to  accept  the  office  of  his  executor, 
which  she  punctually  discharged,  superintending 
the  disposition  of  his  effects  according  to  his  testa- 
ment, 6  and  particularly  the  erection  of  the  stately 
hospital  of  Santa  Cruz,  before  mentioned,  not  a 
stone  of  which  was  laid  before  his  death.  7 


5  Salazar  de  Mendoza,  Cron.  del 
Gran  Cardenal,  lib.  2,  cap.  fiG. 

The  doctor  Pedro  Salazar  de 
Mendoza's  biography  of  his  illus- 
trious relative  is  a  very  fair  speci- 
men of  the  Spanish  style  of  book- 
making  in  ancient  times.  One  event 
seems  to  suggest  another  with 
about  as  much  cohesion  as  the 
rhymes  of  "  The  House  that  Jack 
built."  There  is  scarcely  a  place 
or  personage  of  note,  that  the  grand 
cardinal  was  brought  in  contact 
with  in  the  course  of  his  life,  whose 
history  is  not  made  the  theme  of 
profuse  dissertation.  Nearly  fif- 
ty chapters  are  taken  up,  for  ex- 


ample, with  the  distinguished  mm, 
who  graduated  at  the  college  of 
Santa  Cruz. 

6  "  Non  hoc,"  says  Tacitus  with 
truth,  "  praecipuam  amicorum  mu« 
nus  est,  prosequi  defunctum  ignnvo 
questu :  sed  qua?  voluerit  memi- 
nisse,  qua3  mandaverit  exsequi." 
Annales,  lib.  2,  sect.  71. 

7  Peter  Martyr,  Opus  Epist., 
epist.  143.  —  Carbajal,  Anales, 
MS.,  ano  1494.  —  Salazar  de  Men- 
doza,  Cron.  del  Gran  Cardenal,  lib 
2,  cap.  45. 

A  foundling  hospital  does  not 
seem  to  have  come  amiss  in  Spain, 
where,  according  to  Salazar,  the 


MONASTIC  REFORMS. 


373 


In  one  of  her  interviews  with  the  dying  minister,  chapteb 

the  queen  requested  his  advice  respecting  the  nom-  - — 

ination  of  his  successor.  The  cardinal,  in  reply, 
earnestly  cautioned  her  against  raising  any  one  of 
the  principal  nobility  to  this  dignity,  almost  too  ex- 
alted for  any  subject,  and  which,  when  combined 
with  powerful  family  connexions,  would  enable  a 
man  of  factious  disposition  to  defy  the  royal  author- 
ity itself,  as  they  had  once  bitter  experience  in  the 
case  of  Archbishop  Carillo.  On  being  pressed  to 
name  the  individual,  whom  he  thought  best  qual- 
ified, in  every  point  of  view,  for  the  office,  he  is 
said  to  have  recommended  Fray  Francisco  Ximenez 
de  Cisneros,  a  friar  of  the  Franciscan  order,  and 
confessor  of  the  queen.  As  this  extraordinary  per- 
sonage exercised  a  more  important  control  over  the 
destinies  of  his  country  than  any  other  subject, 
during  the  remainder  of  the  present  reign,  it  will 
be  necessary  to  put  the  reader  in  possession  of 
his  history. 8 

Ximenez  de   Cisneros,  or  Ximenes,  as  he  is  Birth  of 

Ximcrea. 

usually  called,  was  born  at  the  little  town  of  Tor- 


wretched  parents  frequently  de- 
stroyed their  offspring  by  casting 
them  into  wells  and  pits,  or  expos- 
ing them  in  desert  places  to  die  of 
famine.  "  The  more  compassion- 
ate," he  observes,  "laid  them  at 
the  doors  of  churches,  where  they 
were  too  often  worried  to  death  by 
dogs  and  other  animals."  The 
grand  cardinal's  nephew,  who 
founded  a  similar  institution,  is  said 
to  have  furnished  an  asylum  in  the 
course  of  his  life  to  no  less  than 
13,000  of  these  little  victims  !  ibid., 
cap.  61. 


8  Salazar  de  Mendoza,  Cron.  del 
Gran  Cardenal,  lib.  2,  cap.  46. — 
Gomez,  De  Rebus  Gesiis.  fol.  8. 

The  dying  cardinal  is  said  to  have 
recommended,  among  other  things, 
that  the  queen  should  repair  any 
wrong  done  to  Joanna  Beltraneja, 
by  marrying  her  with  the  young 
prince  of  the  Asturias  ;  which  sug- 
gestion was  so  little  to  Isabella's 
taste  that  she  broke  off  the  conver- 
sation, saying,  "  the  good  man 
wandered  and  talked  nonsense/' 


RISE  OF  XIMENES. 


part  delaguna,  in  the  year  1436, 9  of  an  ancient  but 
— ■ —  decayed  family.10  He  was  early  destined  by  his 
parents  for  the  church,  and,  after  studying  grammar 
at  Alcala,  was  removed  at  fourteen  to  the  university 
of  Salamanca.  Here  he  went  through  the  regular 
course  of  instruction  then  pursued,  devoting  him- 
self assiduously  to  the  civil  and  canon  law,  and  at 
the  end  of  six  years  received  the  degree  of  bachelor 
in  each  of  them,  a  circumstance  at  that  time  of  rare 
occurrence.11 

rvtata  Three  years  after  quitting  the  university,  the 
young  bachelor  removed  by  the  advice  of  his  par- 
ents to  Rome,  as  affording  a  better  field  for  eccle- 
siastical preferment  than  he  could  find  at  home. 
Here  he  seems  to  have  attracted  some  notice  by 
the  diligence  with  which  he  devoted  himself  to  his 
professional  studies  and  employments.  But  still  he 
was  far  from  reaping  the  golden  fruits  presaged  by 
his  kindred  ;  and  at  the  expiration  of  six  years  he 
was  suddenly  recalled  to  his  native  country  by  the 
death  of  his  father,  who  left  his  affairs  in  so  embar- 


9  Tt  is  singular,  that  Flechier 
should  have  blundered  some  twenty 
years,  in  the  date  of  Ximenes's 
birth,  which  he  makes  1457.  (Hist, 
de  Ximencs,  liv.  1,  p.  3.)  It  is 
not  singular,  that  Marsollier  should. 
Histoire  du  Ministere  du  Cardinal 
Ximenez,  (Toulouse,  1694,)  liv.  1, 
p.  3. 

10  The  honorable  extraction  of 
Ximenes  is  intimated  in  Juan  Ver- 
eara's  verses  at  the  end  of  the 
Complutensian  Polyglot : 

"Nomine  Cisnevius  clari  de  stirpe  paren- 
tum, 

''Et  mentis  factus  clarior  ipse  suis." 
Fray  Pedro  de  Quintanilla  y 


Mendoza  makes  a  goodly  genealo- 
gical tree  for  his  hero,  of  which 
King  Pelayo,  King  Pepin,  Charle- 
magne, and  other  royal  worthies  are 
the  respectable  roots.  (Procemia 
Dedicatoria,  pp.  5-35.)  According 
to  Gonzalo  de  Oviedo,  his  father 
was  a  poor  hidalgo,  who,  having 
spent  his  little  substance  on  the 
education  of  his  children,  was 
obliged  to  take  up  the  profession  of 
an  advocate.    Quincuagenas,  MS. 

11  Quintanilla,  Archetypo,  p.  6. 
—  Gomez,  De  Rebus  Gestis,  Xi- 
men.,  fol.  2.  — Idem,  Miscellanear. 
MS.,  ex  Bibliotheca  Regia  Matri- 
tensi,  torn.  ii.  fol.  139. 


MONASTIC  REFORMS. 


375 


rassed  a  condition,  as  to  require  his  immediate  chapter 

presence12   

Before  his  return.  Ximenes  obtained  a  papal  bull,  H*»retorn 

'  i    i  ^   an,)  [mprfti 

or  expectative,  preferring  him  to  the  first  benefice  of  oume,,u 
a  specified  value,  which  should  become  vacant  in 
the  see  of  Toledo.    Several  years  elapsed  before 
such  a  vacancy  offered  itself  by  the  death  of  the 
archpriest  of  Uzeda ;  and  Ximenes  took  possession  1473. 
of  that  living  by  virtue  of  the  apostolic  grant. 

This  assumption  of  the  papal  court  to  dispose  of 
the  church  livings  at  its  own  pleasure,  had  been 
long  regarded  by  the  Spaniards  as  a  flagrant  im- 
position ;  and  Carillo,  the  archbishop  of  Toledo, 
in  whose  diocese  the  vacancy  occurred,  was  not 
likely  tamely  to  submit  to  it.  He  had,  moreover, 
promised  this  very  place  to  one  of  his  own  fol- 
lowers. He  determined,  accordingly,  to  compel 
Ximenes  to  surrender  his  pretensions  in  favor  of 
the  latter,  and,  finding  argument  ineffectual,  resort- 
ed to  force,  confining  him  in  the  fortress  of  Uzeda, 
whence  he  was  subsequently  removed  to  the  strong 
tower  of  Santorcaz,  then  used  as  a  prison  for  con- 
tumacious ecclesiastics.  But  Carillo  understood 
little  of  the  temper  of  Ximenes,  which  was  too 
inflexible  to  be  broken  by  persecution.  The  arch- 
bishop in  time  became  convinced  of  this,  and  was 
persuaded  to  release  him,  but  not  till  after  an  im- 
prisonment of  more  than  six  years.13 

W  Gomez,  De  Rebus  Gestis,  fol.  menez  de  Cisneros,  (Toledo,  1G04 ,) 

2. —  Idem,  Miscellanear.,  MS.,  ubi  cap.  11. 

supra.  —  Eugenio  de  Robles,  Com-  13  Quintanilla,  Arehetypo,  pp.  8, 

peodio  de  la  Vida  y  Hazafias  del  10.  —  Gomez,  De  Rebus  Gestis, 

Oardenal  Don  Fray  Francisco  Xi-  fol.  2.  —  Flechier,  Hist,  de  Xime- 


376 


RISE  OF  XIMENES. 


PART 
II. 


Established 
a*.  Siguenza. 


118  0. 


Enters  the 
Franciscan 
order. 


Ximenes,  thus  restored  to  freedom,  and  placed  in 
undisturbed  possession  of  his  benefice,  was  desirous 
of  withdrawing  from  the  jurisdiction  of  his  vindic- 
tive superior ;  and  not  long  after  effected  an  ex- 
change for  the  chaplainship  of  Siguenza.  In  this 
new  situation  he  devoted  himself  with  renewed 
ardor  to  his  theological  studies,  occupying  himself 
diligently,  moreover,  with  Hebrew  and  Chaldee, 
his  knowledge  of  which  proved  of  no  little  use  in 
the  concoction  of  his  famous  Polyglot. 

Mendoza  was  at  that  time  bishop  of  Siguenza. 
It  was  impossible  that  a  man  of  his  penetration 
should  come  in  contact  with  a  character  like  that 
of  Ximenes,  without  discerning  its  extraordinary 
qualities.  It  was  not  long  before  he  appointed  him 
his  vicar,  with  the  administration  of  his  diocese ;  in 
which  situation  he  displayed  such  capacity  for  busi- 
ness, that  the  count  of  Cifuentes,  on  falling  into 
the  hands  of  the  Moors,  after  the  unfortunate  affair 
of  the  Axarquia,  confided  to  him  the  sole  manage- 
ment of  his  vast,  estates  during  his  captivity.14 

But  these  secular  concerns  grew  more  and  more 
distasteful  to  Ximenes,  whose  naturally  austere  and 
contemplative  disposition  had  been  deepened,  prob- 
ably, by  the  melancholy  incidents  of  his  life,  into 
stern  religious  enthusiasm.    He  determined,  there- 


nes,  pp.  8-10.—  Sumade  la  Vida 
del  II.  S.  Garden al  Don  Fr.  Fran- 
cisco Ximenez  de  Cisneros,  sacada 
de  los  Memoriales  de  Juan  de  Va- 
llejo,  Paje  de  Camara,  e  de  algunas 
Personas  que  en  su  Tiempo  lo  vi- 
eron  :  para  la  Ilustrisinia  Sefiora 
Dofia  Catalina  de  la  Zerda,  Con- 


desa  de  Cortina,  a  quien  Dios 
puarde,  y  de  su  Gracia,  por  up. 
Criado  de  su  Casa,  MS. 

14  Suma  de  la  Vida  de  Cisneros, 
MS. — Gornez,  De  Rebus  Uestis, 
fol.  3.  —  Rubles,  Vida  de  Ximenez, 
cap.  11.  —  Oviedo,  Quincuagcnuft. 
MS.,  dial,  de  Ximeni. 


MONASTIC  REFORMS. 


377 


fore,  to  break  at  once  from  the  shackles  which  chapter 

bound  him  to  the  world,  and  seek  an  asylum  in   ' — . 

some  religious  establishment,  where  he  might  de- 
vote himself  unreservedly  to  the  service  of  Heaven. 
He  selected  for  this  purpose  the  Observantines  of 
the  Franciscan  order,  the  most  rigid  of  the  monas- 
tic societies.  He  resigned  his  various  employments 
and  benefices,  with  annual  rents  to  the  amount  of 
two  thousand  ducats,  and,  in  defiance  of  the  argu- 
ments and  entreaties  of  his  friends,  entered  on  his 
noviciate  in  the  convent  of  San  Juan  de  los  Reyes, 
at  Toledo ;  a  superb  pile  then  erecting  by  the 
Spanish  sovereigns,  in  pursuance  of  a  vow  made 
during  the  war  of  Granada.15 

He  distinguished   his  noviciate   by  practising  His  severe 

.  ...  .  penance. 

every  ingenious  variety  of  mortification  with  which 
superstition  has  contrived  to  swell  the  inevitable 
catalogue  of  human  sufferings.  He  slept  on  the 
ground,  or  on  the  hard  floor,  with  a  billet  of  wood 
for  his  pillow.  He  wore  hair  cloth  next  his  skin ; 
and  exercised  himself  with  fasts,  vigils,  and  stripes, 
to  a  degree  scarcely  surpassed  by  the  fanatical 
founder  of  his  order.  At  the  end  of  the  year,  he 
regularly  professed,  adopting  then  for  the  first  time 
the  name  of  Francisco,  in  compliment  to  his  patron 


15  Quintanilla,  Archetypo,  p.  11. 
—  Gomez,  Miscellanear.,  MS.,  ubi 
supra. — Idem,  De  Rebus  Gestis, 
fol.  4. 

This  edifice,  says  Salazar  de 
Mendoza,  in  respect  to  its  sacristy, 
choir,  cloisters,  library,  &c,  was 
the  most  sumptuous  and  noted  of 
its  time.  It  was  originally  destined 


by  the  Catholic  sovereigns  for  their 
place  of  sepulture ;  an  honor  af- 
terwards reserved  for  Granada,  on 
its  recovery  from  the  infidels.  The 
great  chapel  was  garnished  with 
the  fetters  taken  from  the  dungeons 
of  Malaga,  in  which  the  Moors 
confined  their  Christian  captives. 
Monarquia,  torn.  i.  p.  410. 


VOL.  II 


48 


378 


RISE  OF  XIMENES. 


part  saint,  instead  of  that  of  Gonzalo,  by  which  he  had 
 . —  been  baptized. 

nis  ascetic  No  sooner  had  this  taken  place,  than  his  reputa- 
tion for  sanctity,  which  his  late  course  of  life  had 
diffused  far  and  wide,  attracted  multitudes  of  all 
ages  and  conditions  to  his  confessional ;  and  he 
soon  found  himself  absorbed  in  the  same  vortex  of 
worldly  passions  and  interests,  from  which  he  had 
been  so  anxious  to  escape.  At  his  solicitation, 
therefore,  he  was  permitted  to  transfer  his  abode  to 
the  convent  of  our  Lady  of  Castanar,  so  called 
from  a  deep  forest  of  chestnuts,  in  which  it  was 
embosomed.  In  the  midst  of  these  dark  mountain 
solitudes,  he  built  with  his  own  hands  a  little  her- 
mitage or  cabin,  of  dimensions  barely  sufficient  to 
admit  his  entrance.  Here  he  passed  his  days  and 
nights  in  prayer,  and  in  meditations  on  the  sacred 
volume,  sustaining  life,  like  the  ancient  anchorites, 
on  the  green  herbs  and  running  waters.  In  this 
state  of  self-mortification,  with  a  frame  wasted  by 
abstinence,  and  a  mind  exalted  by  spiritual  con- 
templation, it  is  no  wonder  that  he  should  have 
indulged  in  ecstasies  and  visions,  until  he  fancied 
himself  raised  into  communication  with  celestial 
intelligences.  It  is  more  wonderful  that  his  under- 
standing was  not  permanently  impaired  by  these 
distempered  fancies.  This  period  of  his  life,  how- 
ever, seems  to  have  been  always  regarded  by  him 
with  peculiar  satisfaction  ;  for  long  after,  as  his 
biographer  assures  us,  when  reposing  in  lordly 
palaces,  and  surrounded  by  all  the  appliances  of 
luxury,  he  looked  back  with  fond  regret  on  the 


MONASTIC  REFORMS. 


379 


hours  which  glided  so  peacefully  in  the  hermitage  chapter 

of  Castanar.16   — 

Fortunately,  his  superiors  choosing  to  change  his  He  is  made 

J  1  1  °  °  guardian  of 

place  of  residence  according  to  custom,  transferred  Sal7eda- 
him  at  the  end  of  three  years  to  the  convent  of 
Salzeda.  Here  he  practised,  indeed,  similar  aus- 
terities, but  it  was  not  long  before  his  high  repu- 
tation raised  him  to  the  post  of  guardian  of  the 
convent.  This  situation  necessarily  imposed  on 
him  the  management  of  the  institution  ;  and  thus 
the  powers  of  his  mind,  so  long  wasted  in  unprof- 
itable reverie,  were  again  called  into  exercise  for 
the  benefit  of  others.  An  event  which  occurred 
some  years  later,  in  1492,  opened  to  him  a  still 
wider  sphere  of  action. 

By  the  elevation  of  Talavera  to  the  metropoli- 
tan see  of  Granada,  the  office  of  queen's  confessor 
became  vacant.  Cardinal  Mendoza,  who  was  con- 
sulted on  the  choice  of  a  successor,  well  knew  the 
importance  of  selecting  a  man  of  the  highest  integ- 
rity and  talent ;  since  the  queen's  tenderness  of 
conscience  led  her  to  take  counsel  of  her  confessor, 
not  merely  in  regard  to  her  own  spiritual  concerns, 
but  all  the  great  measures  of  her  administration. 
He  at  once  fixed  his  eye  on  Ximenes,  of  whom 
he  had  never  lost  sight,  indeed,  since  his  first 
acquaintance  with  him  at  Siguenza.  He  was  far 
from  approving  his  adoption  of  the  monastic  life, 
and  had  been  heard  to  say,  that  "  parts  so  extraor- 

16  Flechier,  Hist,  de  Ximenes,  Gestis,  fol.  4.  —  Suma  de  la  Tula 
p.  14.  —  Quintanilla,  Archetype-,  de  Cisneros,  MS.  —  Oviedo,  Qnin- 
pp.  13,  14. — Gomez,  De  Rebus    cuagenas,  MS. 


380 


RISE  OF  XIMENES. 


part     dinary  would  not  long  be  buried  in  the  shades  of  a 

 . —  convent."    He  is  said,  also,  to  have  predicted  that 

Ximenes  would  one  day  succeed  him  in  the  chair 
of  Toledo.    A  prediction,  which  its  author  con- 
tributed more  than  any  other  to  verify. 17 
introduced       He   recommended  Ximenes  in  such  emphatic 

to  the  queen.  1 

terms  to  the  queen,  as  raised  a  strong  desire  in  her 
to  see  and  converse  with  him  herself.  An  invita- 
tion was  accordingly  sent  him  from  the  cardinal  to 
repair  to  the  court  at  Valladolid,  without  intimating 
the  real  purpose  of  it.  Ximenes  obeyed  the  sum- 
mons, and,  after  a  short  interview  with  his  early 
patron,  was  conducted,  as  if  without  any  previous 
arrangement,  to  the  queen's  apartment.  On  find- 
ing himself  so  unexpectedly  in  the  royal  presence, 
he  betrayed  none  of  the  agitation  or  embarrassment 
to  have  been  expected  from  the  secluded  inmate  of 
a  cloister,  but  exhibited  a  natural  dignity  of  man- 
ners, with  such  discretion  and  fervent  piety,  in  his 
replies  to  Isabella's  various  interrogatories,  as  con- 
firmed the  favorable  prepossessions  she  had  derived 
from  the  cardinal. 
Made  her        Not  many  days  after,  Ximenes  was  invited  to 

confessor.  J  J 

]  492  take  charge  of  the  queen's  conscience.  Far  from 
appearing  elated  by  this  mark  of  royal  favor,  and 
the  prospects  of  advancement  which  it  opened,  he 
seemed  to  view  it  with  disquietude,  as  likely  to  in- 
terrupt the  peaceful  tenor  of  his  religious  duties  ; 
and  he  accepted  it  only  with  the  understanding, 


O  Salazar  de  Mendoza,  Cron.  — Suma  de  la  Vida  de  Cisneros, 
del  Gran  Cardenal,  lib.  2,  cap.  6'A.  MS. —  Robles,  Vida  de  Ximenez, 
—  Gomez,  De  Rebus  Gestis,  fol.  4.    cap.  12. 


MONASTIC  REFORMS. 


381 


that  he  should  be  allowed  to  conform  in  every  re-  chapter 
spect  to  the  obligations  of  his  order,  and  to  remain  . — — — 
in  his  own  monastery  when  his  official  functions 
did  not  require  attendance  at  court.18 

Martyr,  in  more  than  one  of  his  letters  dated  at 
this  time,  notices  the  impression  made  on  the  cour- 
tiers by  the  remarkable  appearance  of  the  new  con- 
fessor, in  whose  wasted  frame,  and  pallid,  care-worn 
countenance,  they  seemed  to  behold  one  of  the 
primitive  anchorites  from  the  deserts  of  Syria  or 
Egypt. 19  The  austerities  and  the  blameless  purity 
of  Ximenes's  life  had  given  him  a  reputation  for 
sanctity  throughout  Spain  ;  20  and  Manyr  indulges 
the  regret,  that  a  virtue,  which  had  stood  so  many 
trials,  should  be  exposed  to  the  worst  of  all,  in  the 
seductive  blandishments  of  a  court.  But  Ximenes's 
heart  had  been  steeled  by  too  stern  a  discipline  to 
be  moved  by  the  fascinations  of  pleasure,  however 
it  might  be  by  those  of  ambition. 

Two  years  after  this  event,  he  was  elected  pro-  E^rt«i  pro- 
vincial  of  his  order  in  Castile,  which  placed  him  at 


18  Flechier,  Hist,  de  Ximenes, 
pp.  18,  I!).  —  Peter  Martyr,  Opus 
Epist.,  epist.  108.  —  Robles,  Vida 
de  Ximenez,  ubi  supra.  — Oviedo, 
Quincu;i£enas,  MS. 

19  Peter  Martyr,  Opus  Epist., 
epist.  108. 

H  PriKterea,"  says  Martyr,  in  a 
letter  to  Don  Fernando  Alvarez,  one 
of  the  royal  secretaries,  "  nonne 
tu  sanctissimum  quendain  virum  a 
solitudine  abstrusisque  silvis,  macie 
ob  abstinent  iam  confectum,  relicti 
Granatensis  loco  fuisse  sulfectum, 
scriptitasti  ?  In  istius  facie  obduc- 
ta,  nonne  Hitarionis  te  imaginem 
aut  pritni  Pauli  vultum  conspexisse 


fateris  ?  "   Opus  Epist,  epist.  105. 

■20  it  Xodos  hablaban,"  says  Ovi- 
edo, 11  de  la  sanotimonia  e  vida  de 
este  relin-ioso."  The  same  writer 
says,  that  he  saw  him  at  Medina 
del  Carapo,  in  14!M,  in  a  solemn 
procession,  on  the  day  of  Corpus 
Christi,  his  body  much  emaciat- 
ed, and  walking  barefooted  in  his 
coarse  friar's  dress.  In  the  same 
procession  was  the  magnificent  car- 
dinal of  Spain,  little  dreaming-  how 
soon  his  proud  honors  were  to  de- 
scend on  the  head  of  his  more 
humble  companion.  Quincuage- 
nas,  MS. 


382 


RISE  OF  XIMENES. 


part     the  head  of  its  numerous  religious  establishments. 

 In  his  frequent  journeys  for  their  inspection  he 

travelled  on  foot,  supporting  himself  by  begging 
alms,  conformably  to  the  rules  of  his  order.  On  his 
return  he  made  a  very  unfavorable  report  to  the 
queen  of  the  condition  of  the  various  institutions, 
most  of  which  he  represented  to  have  grievously 
relaxed  in  discipline  and  virtue.  Contemporary 
accounts  corroborate  this  unfavorable  picture,  and 
accuse  the  religious  communities  of  both  sexes 
throughout  Spain,  at  this  period,  of  wasting  their 
hours,  not  merely  in  unprofitable  sloth,  but  in  luxury 
and  licentiousness.  The  Franciscans,  in  particular, 
had  so  far  swerved  from  the  obligations  of  their  in- 
stitute, which  interdicted  the  possession  of  property 
of  any  description,  that  they  owned  large  estates  in 
town  and  country,  living  in  stately  edifices,  and  in 
a  style  of  prodigal  expense  not  surpassed  by  any  of 
the  monastic  orders.  Those  who  indulged  in  this 
latitude  were  called  conventuals,  while  the  com- 
paratively small  number  who  put  the  strictest  con- 
struction on  the  rule  of  their  founder  were  denomi- 
nated observantines,  or  brethren  of  the  observance. 
Ximenes,  it  will  be  remembered,  was  one  of  the 
latter.21 

corruption       The  Spanish  sovereigns  had  lone;  witnessed  with 

•:>f  the  inou-  1  3  o 

aperies.      deep  regret  tne  scandalous  abuses  which  had  crept 

21  Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catolicos,  Cosas  Memorables,   fol.   165.  — 

MS.,  cap.  201.  —  Suma  de  la  Vida  Oviedo,  Epilogo  Real,  Imperial  y 

de  Cisneros,  MS. —  Mosheim,  Ec-  Pontifical,  MS.,  apud  Mem.  de  la 

clesiastical  History,  vol.  iii.  cent.  Acad,  de  Hist.,  torn.  vi.  Ilust.  8. — 

14,  p.  2. —  Peter  Martyr,  Opus  Zurita,  Hist,  del  Rey  Hernando,  lib. 

Epist.,  epist.  103.  —  L.  Marineo,  3,  cap.  15. 


MONASTIC  REFORMS. 


383 


into  these  ancient  institutions,  and  had  employed  chapter 

commissioners  for  investigating  and  reforming  them,  — ~  

but  ineffectually.  Isabella  now  gladly  availed  her- 
self of  the  assistance  of  her  confessor,  in  bringing 
them  into  a  better  state  of  discipline.  In  the  course 
of  the  same  year,  1494,  she  obtained  a  bull  with 
full  authority  for  this  purpose  from  Alexander  the 
Sixth,  the  execution  of  which  she  intrusted  to  Xim- 
enes.  The  work  of  reform  required  all  the  energies 
of  his  powerful  mind,  backed  by  the  royal  authority. 
For,  in  addition  to  the  obvious  difficulty  of  per- 
suading men  to  resign  the  good  things  of  this  world 
for  a  life  of  penance  and  mortification,  there  were 
other  impediments,  arising  from  the  circumstance, 
that  the  conventuals  had  been  countenanced  in 
their  lax  interpretation  of  the  rules  of  their  order 
by  many  of  their  own  superiors,  and  even  the  popes 
themselves.  They  were  besides  sustained  in  their 
opposition  by  many  of  the  great  lords,  who  were 
apprehensive  that  the  rich  chapels  and  masses, 
which  they  or  their  ancestors  had  founded  in  the 
various  monasteries,  would  be  neglected  by  the  ob- 
servantines,  whose  scrupulous  adherence  to  the  vow 
of  poverty  excluded  them  from  what,  in  church  as 
well  as  state,  is  too  often  found  the  most  cogent 
incentive  to  the  performance  of  duty. 22 

From  these  various  causes,  the  work  of  reform  Attempts  . 

reform. 

went  on  slowly;  but  the  untiring  exertions  of  Xim- 
enes  gradually  effected  its  adoption  in  many  estab- 

22  Flechier,  Hist,  de  Ximenes,    bus  Gestis,  fol.  6,  7.  —  Robles: 
pp.  25,  26.  —  Quintanilla,  Archety-    Vida  de  Ximcncz,  cap.  12. 
po,  pp  21,  22.  —  Gomez,  De  Re- 


384 


RISE  OF  XIMENES. 


part     lishments  ;  and,  where  fair  means  could  not  pre- 

  vail,  he  sometimes  resorted  to  force.    The  monks 

of  one  of  the  convents  in  Toledo,  being  ejected 
from  their  dwelling,  in  consequence  of  their  perti- 
nacious resistance,  marched  out  in  solemn  proces- 
sion, with  the  crucifix  before  them,  chanting,  at  the 
same  time,  the  psalm  De  exitu  Israel,  in  token  of 
their  persecution.  Isabella  resorted  to  milder  meth- 
ods. She  visited  many  of  the  nunneries  in  person, 
taking  her  needle  or  distaff  with  her,  and  endeav- 
ouring by  her  conversation  and  example  to  with- 
draw their  inmates  from  the  low  and  frivolous 
pleasures  to  which  they  were  addicted.23 
eeeofToie-      While  the  reformation  was  thus  silently  goinp 

do  vacant.  J     °  ° 

1495.  forward,  the  vacancy  in  the  archbishopric  of  Toledo 
already  noticed,  occurred  by  the  death  of  the  grand 
cardinal.  Isabella  deeply  felt  the  responsibility  of 
providing  a  suitable  person  to  this  dignity,  the  most 
considerable  not  merely  in  Spain,  but  probably  in 
Christendom,  after  the  papacy  ;  and  which,  more- 
over, raised  its  possessor  to  eminent  political  rank, 
as  high  chancellor  of  Castile.24  The  right  of  nomi- 
nation to  benefices  was  vested  in  the  queen  by  the 
original  settlement  of  the  crown.    She  had  uni- 


23  Flechier,  Hist,  de  Ximen6s, 
p.  25. —  Quintanilla,  Archetypo, 
lib.  1,  cap.  11.  —  Mem.  de  la  Acad, 
de  Hist.,  torn.  vi.  Ilust.  8.  —  Ro- 
bles,  Vida  de  Ximenez,  ubi  supra. 

34  Oviedo,  Quincuagenas,  MS., 
bat.  1,  quinc.  2,  dial.  1.  —  Ferdi- 
nand and  Isabella  annexed  the  dig- 
nity of  high  chancellor  in  perpetui- 
ty to  that  of  archbishop  of  Toledo. 
It  seems,  however,  at  least  in  later 


times,  to  have  been  a  mere  honor- 
ary title.  (Mendoza,  Dignidades, 
lib.  2,  cap.  8.)  The  revenues  of 
the  archbishopric  at  the  beginning 
of  the  sixteenth  century  amounted 
to  80,000  ducats,  (Navagiero,Viag- 
gio,'  fol.  9.  —  L.  Marineo,  Cosas 
Memorabjes,  fol.  23.)  equivalent 
to  about  702,200  dollars  at  the 
present  day.  See  Introd.,  Sect.  1, 
Note  63,  of  this  History 


MONASTIC  REFORMS. 


formly  discharged  this  trust  with  the  most  consci-  chapter 

entious  impartiality,  conferring  the  honors  of  the  , 

church  on  none  but  persons  of  approved  piety  and 
learning. 25  In  the  present  instance,  she  was 
strongly  solicited  by  Ferdinand,  in  favor  of  his  nat- 
ural son  Alfonso,  archbishop  of  Saragossa.  But 
this  prelate,  although  not  devoid  of  talent,  had 
neither  the  age  nor  experience,  and  still  less  the 
exemplary  morals,  demanded  for  this  important 
station  ;  and  the  queen  mildly,  but  unhesitatingly, 
resisted  all  entreaty  and  expostulation  of  her  hus- 
band on  his  behalf. 26 

The  post  had  always  been  filled  by  men  of  high 
family.  The  queen,  loath  to  depart  from  this  usage, 
notwithstanding  the  dying  admonition  of  Mendoza, 
turned  her  eyes  on  various  candidates  before  she 
determined  in  favor  of  her  own  confessor,  whose 
character  presented  so  rare  a  combination  of  talent 


25  "De  mas  desto,"  says  Lucio 
Marineo,  "  tenia  por  costumbre, 
que  quando  avia  de  dar  alguna  dig-- 
nidad,  o  obispado,  mas  mirava  en 
virtud,  honestidad,  y  sciencia  de 
las  personas,  que  las  riqtiezas,  y 
generosidad,  aun  que  fuessen  sus 
deudos.  Lo  qual  fue  causa  que 
muchos  de  los  que  hablavan  poco, 
y  tenian  los  cabellos  mas  cortos  que 
las  cejas  ;  comencaron  a  traer  los 
ojos  baxos  mirand'o  la  tierra,  y  an- 
dar  con  mas  gravedad,  y  hazer 
mejor  vida,  simulando  por  ventura 
algunos  mas  la  virtud,  que  exerci- 
tando  /a."  (Cosas  Memorables, 
fol.  182.)  "  L'hypocrisie  est  Thorn- 
mage  que  le  vice  rend  a  la  vertu." 
The  maxim  is  now  somewhat  stale, 
like  most  others  of  its  profound  au- 
thor. 


28  Quintanilla,  Archetypo,  lib.  t, 
cap.  1R.  —  Salaviar  de  Mendoza, 
Cron.  del  Gran  Cardenal,  lib.  2, 
cap.  65. 

This  prelate  was  at  this  time  only 
twenty-four  years  of  age.  He  had 
been  raised  to  the  see  of  Saragos- 
sa when  only  six.  This  strange 
abuse  of  preferring  infants  to  the 
highest  dignities  of  the  church 
seems  to  have  prevailed  in  Castile 
as  well  as  Aragon  ;  for  the  tombs 
of  five  archdeacons  might  be  seen 
in  the  church  of  Madre  de  Dios  at 
Toledo,  in  Salazar's  time,  whose 
united  ages  amounted  only  to  thir- 
ty years.  See  Cron.  del  Gran  Car- 
denal, ubi  supra. 


VOL.  II. 


49 


RISE  OF  XIMENES. 


part  and  virtue,  as  amply  compensated  any  deficiency  of 
— - —  birth. 

xSmenel0  ^s  soon  as  tne  PaPal  bull  reached  Castile,  con- 
firming the  royal  nomination,  Isabella  summoned 
Ximenes  to  her  presence,  and,  delivering  to  him  the 
parcel,  requested  him  to  open  it  before  her.  The 
confessor,  who  had  no  suspicion  of  their  real  pur- 
port, took  the  letters  and  devoutly  pressed  them  to 
his  lips  ;  when  his  eye  falling  on  the  superscription, 
"  To  our  venerable  brother  Francisco  Ximenez  de 
Cisneros,  archbishop  elect  of  Toledo,"  he  changed 
color,  and  involuntarily  dropped  the  packet  from  his 
hands,  exclaiming,  "  There  is  some  mistake  in  this, 
it  cannot  be  intended  for  me  and  abruptly  quitted 
the  apartment. 

The  queen,  far  from  taking  umbrage  at  this  un- 
ceremonious proceeding,  waited  awhile,  until  the 
first  emotions  of  surprise  should  have  subsided. 
Finding  that  he  did  not  return,  however,  she  de- 
spatched two  of  the  grandees,  who  she  thought 
would  have  the  most  influence  with  him,  to  seek  him 
out  and  persuade  him  to  accept  the  office.  The 
nobles  instantly  repaired  to  his  convent  in  Madrid, 
in  which  city  the  queen  then  kept  her  court.  They 
found,  however,  that  he  had  already  left  the  place. 
Having  ascertained  his  route,  they  mounted  their 
horses,  and,  following  as  fast  as  possible,  succeeded 
in  overtaking  him  at  three  leagues'  distance  from 
the  city,  as  he  was  travelling  on  foot  at  a  rapid  rate, 
though  in  the  noontide  heat,  on  his  way  to  the 
Franciscan  monastery  at  Ocana. 

After  a  brief  expostulation  with  Ximenes  on  his 


xMONASTIC  REFORMS.  387 

abrupt  departure,  they  prevailed  on  him  to  retrace  chapter 

his  steps  to  Madrid  ;  but,  upon  his  arrival  there,   !  

neither  the  arguments  nor  entreaties  of  his  friends,  "nuyac" 
backed  as  they  were  by  the  avowed  wishes  of  his 
sovereign,  could  overcome  his  scruples,  or  induce 
him  to  accept  an  office,  of  which  he  professed 
himself  unworthy.  "  He  had  hoped,"  he  said,  "  to 
pass  the  remainder  of  his  days  in  the  quiet  practice 
of  his  monastic  duties  ;  and  it  was  too  late  now  to 
call  him  into  public  life,  and  impose  a  charge  of 
such  heavy  responsibility  on  him,  for  which  he  had 
neither  capacity  nor  inclination."  In  this  resolution 
he  pertinaciously  persisted  for  more  than  six  months, 
until  a  second  bull  was  obtained  from  the  pope, 
commanding  him  no  longer  to  decline  an  appoint- 
ment, which  the  church  had  seen  fit  to  sanction. 
This  left  no  further  room  for  opposition,  and  Xime- 
nes  acquiesced,  though  with  evident  reluctance,  in 
his  advancement  to  the  first  dignity  in  the  king- 
dom. 27 

There  seems  to  be  no  good  ground  for  charging 
Ximenes  with  hypocrisy  in  this  singular  display  of 
humility.  The  nolo  episcopari,  indeed,  has  passed 
into  a  proverb ;  but  his  refusal  was  too  long  and 
sturdily  maintained  to  be  reconciled  with  affecta- 
tion or  insincerity.  He  was,  moreover,  at  this 
time,  in  the  sixtieth  year  of  his  age,  when  am- 
bition, though  not  extinguished,  is  usually  chilled 

27Garibay,  Compendio,  torn.  ii.  cap.  16.  — Gomez,  De  Rebus  Gestis, 

lib.  19,  cap.  4.  —  Mariana,  Hist,  de  fol.  11.  —  Carbajal,  Anales,  MS., 

Espafia,  torn.  ii.  lib.  26,  cap.  7.  —  afio  1495.  —  Robles,  VidadeXime- 

Suma  de  la  Vida  de  Cisneros,MS.  nez,  cap.  13.  —  Oviedo,  Quincua- 

—  Quintanilla,  Arclietvpo,  lib.  1,  genas,  MS. 


388 


RISE  OF  XLMENES. 


part  in  the  human  heart.  His  habits  had  been  long 
1  .._  accommodated  to  the  ascetic  duties  of  the  cloister, 
and  his  thoughts  turned  from  the  business  of  this 
world  to  that  beyond  the  grave.  However  gratify- 
ing the  distinguished  honor  conferred  on  him  might 
be  to  his  personal  feelings,  he  might  naturally 
hesitate  to  exchange  the  calm,  sequestered  way  of 
life,  to  which  he  had  voluntarily  devoted  himself, 
for  the  turmoil  and  vexations  of  the  world, 
character-      But,  although  Ximenes  showed  no  craving  foi 

tic  anecdotes  '  S  9 

or  ximenes.  p0Wei.}  jt  must  be  confessed  he  was  by  no  means 
diffident  in  the  use  of  it.  One  of  the  very  first 
acts  of  his  administration  is  too  characteristic  to  be 
omitted.  The  government  of  Cazorla,  the  most 
considerable  place  in  the  gift  of  the  archbishop  of 
Toledo,  had  been  intrusted  by  the  grand  cardinal 
to  his  younger  brother,  Don  Pedro  Hurtado  de 
Mendoza.  The  friends  of  this  nobleman  applied 
to  Ximenes  to  confirm  the  appointment,  reminding 
him  at  the  same  time  of  his  own  obligations  to  the 
cardinal,  and  enforcing  their  petition  by  the  rec- 
ommendation which  they  had  obtained  from  the 
queen.  This  was  not  the  way  to  approach  Xim- 
enes, who  was  jealous  of  any  improper  influence 
over  his  own  judgment,  and,  above  all,  of  the  too 
easy  abuse  of  the  royal  favor.  He  was  determined, 
in  the  outset,  effectually  to  discourage  all  such  ap- 
plications; and  he  declared,  that  "  the  sovereigns 
might  send  him  back  to  the  cloister  again,  but  that 
no  personal  considerations  should  ever  operate  with 
him  in  distributing  the  honors  of  the  church." 
The  applicants,  nettled  at  this  response,  returned 


MONASTIC  REFORMS. 


389 


to  the  queen,  complaining  in  the  bitterest  terms  of  chapter 
the  arrogance  and  ingratitude  of  the  new  primate  — v* 
Isabella,  however,  evinced  no  symptoms  of  dis- 
approbation, not  altogether  displeased,  perhaps, 
with  the  honest  independence  of  her  minister; 
at  any  rate  she  took  no  further  notice  of  the 
affair.28 

Some  time  after,  the  archbishop  encountered 
Mendoza  in  one  of  the  avenues  of  the  palace,  and, 
as  the  latter  was  turning  off  to  avoid  the  meeting, 
he  saluted  him  with  the  title  of  adelantado  of 
Cazorla.  Mendoza  stared  with  astonishment  at 
the  prelate,  who  repeated  the  salutation,  assuring 
him,  "  that,  now  he  was  at  full  liberty  to  consult 
his  own  judgment,  without  the  suspicion  of  any 
sinister  influence,  he  was  happy  to  restore  him  to 
a  station,  for  which  he  had  shown  himself  well 
qualified."  It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  say,  that 
Ximenes  was  not  importuned  after  this  with  solici- 
tations for  office.  Indeed,  all  personal  application 
he  affected  to  regard  as  of  itself  sufficient  ground 
for  a  denial,  since  it  indicated  "  the  want  either 
of  merit  or  of  humility  in  the  applicant."  29 

After  his  elevation  to  the  primacy,  he  retained  Hi«austew 
the  same  simple  and  ausiere  manners  as  before, 
dispensing  his  large  revenues  in  public  and  private 
charities,  but  regulating  his  domestic  expenditure 
with  the  severest  economy,30  until  he  was  admon- 

28  Gomez,  De  Rebus  Gestis,  do,  "  in  his  palace  with  him,  and 
tbl.  11.  as  many  asses  in  his  stables;  but 

29  Ibid.,  ubi  supra.  —  Robles,  the  latter  all  grew  sleek  and  fat, 
Vida  de  Ximenez,  cap.  13,  14.  for  the  archbishop  would  not  ride 

30  "He  kept  five  or  six  friars  of  himself,  nor  allow  his  brethren  to 
his  order,"  says  Gonzalo  de  Ovie-  ride  either."    Quincuagenas,  MS. 


390 


RISE  OF  XIMENKS. 


part     ished  bv  the  Holy  See  to  adopt  a  state  more  con  so- 
il •  "  1 
  nant  with  the  dignity  of  his  office,  if  he  would  not 

disparage  it  in  popular  estimation.    In  obedience 

to  this,  he  so  far  changed  his  habits,  as  to  display 

the  usual  magnificence  of  his  predecessors,  in  all 

that  met  the  public  eye, —  his  general  style  of 

living,  equipage,  and  the  number  and  pomp  of 

his  retainers ;  but  he  relaxed  nothing  of  his  own 

personal  mortifications.    He  maintained  the  same 

abstemious  diet,  amidst  all  the  luxuries  of  his 

table.    Under  his  robes  of  silk  or  costly  furs  he 

wore  the  coarse  frock  of  St.  Francis,  which  he 

used  to  mend  with  his  own  hands.    He  used  no 

linen  about  his  person  or  bed  ;  and  he  slept  on  a 

miserable  pallet  like  that  used  by  the  monks  of  his 

fraternity,  and  so  contrived  as  to  be  concealed  from 

observation  under  the  luxurious  couch  in  which  he 

affected  to  repose.31 

Si"e       ^s  soon  as  Ximenes  entered  on  the  duties  of  his 

office,  he  bent  all  the  energies  of  his  mind  to  the 

consummation  of  the  schemes  of  reform,  which  his 

royal  mistress,  as  well  as  himself,  had  so  much  at 

heart.    His  attention  was  particularly  directed  to 

the  clergy  of  his  diocese,  who  had  widely  departed 

from  the  rule  of  St.  Augustine,  by  which  they 

31  Suma  de  la  Vida  de  Cisneros,  as  usual  long  before  dawn,  he 

MS.— Quintanilla,  Archetypo,  lib.  urged  his  muleteer  to  dress  him- 

9,  cap.  8,  9.  —  Gomez,  de  Rebus  self  quickly  ;  at  which  the  latter 

Gestis,  fol.  12. — Oviedo,  Quin-  irreverently  exclaimed,  "  Cuerpo 

cuagenas,  MS.  —  Robles,  Vida  de  de  Dios  !  does  vour  holiness  think 

Xiinenez,  cap.  13.  I  have  nothing  more  to  do,  than  to 

He  commonly  slept  in  his  Fran-  shake  myself  like  a  wet  spaniel, 

ciscan  habit.    Of  course  his  toilet  and  tighten  my  cord  a  link'!  ' 

took  no  long  time.  On  one  occa-  Quintanilla,  Archetypo,  ubi  supra, 
sion,  as  he  was  travelling,  and  up 


MONASTIC  REFORMS. 


391 


were  bound.    His  attempts  at  reform,  however,  chapter 

excited  such  a  lively  dissatisfaction  in  this  reverend   - 

body,  that  they  determined  to  send  one  of  their 
own  number  to  Rome,  to  prefer  their  complaints 
against  the  archbishop  at  the  papal  court.32 

The  person  selected  for  this  delicate  mission  was  Example  of 

a  Mb  ttsveritY. 

a  shrewd  and  intelligent  canon  by  the  name  of 
Albornoz.  It  could  not  be  conducted  so  privately 
as  to  escape  the  knowledge  of  Ximenes.  He  was 
no  sooner  acquainted  with  it,  than  he  despatched 
an  officer  to  the  coast,  with  orders  to  arrest  the 
emissary.  In  case  he  had  already  embarked,  the 
officer  was  authorized  to  fit  out  a  fast  sailing  vessel, 
so  as  to  reach  Italy,  if  possible,  before  him.  He 
was  at  the  same  time  fortified  with  despatches 
from  the  sovereigns,  to  the  Spanish  minister  Gar- 
cilasso  de  la  Vega,  to  be  delivered  immediately  on 
his  arrival. 

The  affair  turned  out  as  had  been  foreseen.  On 
arriving  at  the  port,  the  officer  found  the  bird  had 
flown.  He  followed,  however,  without  delay,  and 
had  the  good  fortune  to  reach  Ostia  several  days 
before  him.  He  forwarded  his  instructions  at  once 
to  the  Spanish  minister,  who  in  pursuance  of  them 
caused  Albornoz  to  be  arrested  the  moment  he  set 
foot  on  shore,  and  sent  him  back  as  a  prisoner  of 
state  to  Spain  ;  where  a  close  confinement  for  two 

32  Gomez  de  Rebus  Gestis,  fol.  city,  being-  especial  favorites  with 

16.  the  ladies,  dwelling  in  stately  man- 

The  Venetian  minister  Navagie-  sions,  passing,  in  short,  the  most 

ro,  noticing  the  condition  of  the  agreeable  lives  in  the  world,  with- 

canons  of  Toledo,  some  few  years  out  any  one  to   trouble  1110111." 

later  celebrates  them,  as  "lording  Viaggio,  fol.  9. 
it  above  all  others  in  their  own 


392 


RISE  OF  XiMEA  Kb. 


part     and  twenty  months  admonished  the  worthy  eanoji 

 —  of  the  inexpediency  of  thwarting  the  plans  of 

Ximenes. 33 

Reform  or       His  attempts  at  innovation  anion";  the  regular 

the  monastic  1  . 

" '  rs  clergy  of  his  own  order,  were  encountered  with 
more  serious  opposition.  The  reform  fell  most 
heavily  on  the  Franciscans,  who  were  interdicted 
by  their  rules  from  holding  property,  whether  as  a 
community,  or  as  individuals  ;  while  the  members 
of  other  fraternities  found  some  compensation  foi 
the  surrender  of  their  private  fortunes,  in  the  con- 
sequent augmentation  of  those  of  their  fraternity. 
There  was  no  one  of  the  religious  orders,  therefore, 
in  which  the  archbishop  experienced  such  a  dogged 
resistance  to  his  plans,  as  in  his  own.  More  than 
a  thousand  friars,  according  to  some  accounts,  quit- 
ted the  country  and  passed  over  to  Barbary,  prefer- 
ring rather  to  live  with  the  infidel,  than  conform  to 
the  strict  letter  of  their  founder's  rules. 34 
mem1  SuLed  difficulties  of  the  reform  were  perhaps  aug- 

fcyit         mented  by  the  mode  in  which  it  was  conducted. 

Isabella,  indeed,  used  all  gentleness  and  persua- 
but  Ximenes  carried  measures  with  a  high 


35 


J3  Gomez,  De  Rebus  Gestis,  fol.       35  "  Trataba  las  monjas,"  says 

17.  Rioi,  "  con  un  agrado  y  amor  tan 

34  Quintanilla,  Archetypo,  pp.  carifioso,  que  las  robaba  los  corazo- 

22,  23. —  Mem.  de  la  Acad,  de  nes,  y  hecha  duefia  de  ellas,  las 

Hist.,  torn.  vi.  p.  201. — Zurita,  persuadia  con  suavidad  y  eficacia 

Hist,  del  Rev  Hernando,  lib.  3,  cap.  a  que  votasen  clausura.   Y  es  cosa 

15.      .  admirable,  que  raro  fue  el  conven- 

One  account  represents  the  mi-  to  donde  entro  esta  celebre  hero- 

gration  as  being  to  Italy  and  other  ina,  donde  no  lograse  en  el  propio 

Christian  countries,  where  the  con-  dia  el  efecto  de  su  santo  deseo." 

ventual  order  was  protected  ;  which  Informe,  apnd  Semanario  Erudito. 

would  seem  the    most  probable,  torn.  hi.  p.  110. 
though  not  the  best  authenticated, 
statement  of  the  two. 


MONASTIC  REFORMS. 


and  inexoiable  hand.  He  was  naturally  of  an  au-  chapter 
stere  and  arbitrary  temper,  and  the  severe  training  - 
which  he  had  undergone,  made  him  less  charitable 
for  the  lapses  of  others ;  especially  of  those,  who, 
like  himself,  had  voluntarily  incurred  the  obligations 
of  monastic  rule.  He  was  conscious  of  the  rec- 
titude of  his  intentions ;  and,  as  he  identified  his 
own  interests  with  those  of  the  church,  he  regard- 
ed all  opposition  to  himself  as  an  offence  against 
religion,  warranting  the  most  peremptory  exertion 
of  power. 

The  clamor  raised  against  his  proceedings  became  vwtofthe 

0  1  0  Franciscan 

at  length  so  alarming,  that  the  general  of  the  Fran-  se,,eral- 
ciscans,  who  resided  at  Rome,  determined  to  anti-  149f> ' 
cipate  the  regular  period  of  his  visit  to  Castile  for 
inspecting  the  affairs  of  the  order.  As  he  was  him- 
self a  conventual,  his  prejudices  were  of  course  all 
enlisted  against  the  measures  of  reform  ;  and  he 
came  over  fully  resolved  to  compel  Ximenes  to 
abandon  it  altogether,  or  to  undermine,  if  possible, 
his  credit  and  influence  at  court.  But  this  func- 
tionary had  neither  the  talent  nor  temper  requisite 
for  so  arduous  an  undertaking. 

He  had  not  been  long  in  Castile  before  he  was  insuintn. 

queen. 

convinced  that  all  his  own  power,  as  head  of  the 
order,  would  be  incompetent  to  protect  it  against 
the  bold  innovations  of  his  provincial,  while  sup- 
ported by  royal  authority.  He  demanded,  there- 
fore, an  audience  of  the  queen,  in  which  he  de- 
clared his  sentiments  with  very  little  reserve.  He 
expressed  his  astonishment  that  she  should  have 
selected  an  individual  for  the  highest  dignity  in  the 
vol.  ii.  50 


394 


RISE  OF  X1MENES. 


part  church,  who  was  destitute  of  nearly  every  qualifi- 
—  —  cation,  even  that  of  birth;  whose  sanctity  was  a 
mere  cloak  to  cover  his  ambition  ;  whose  morose 
and  melancholy  temper  made  him  an  enemy  not 
only  of  the  elegances,  but  the  common  courtesies 
of  life;  and  whose  rude  manners  were  not  compen- 
sated by  any  tincture  of  liberal  learning.  He  de- 
plored the  magnitude  of  the  evil,  which  his  intem- 
perate measures  had  brought  on  the  church,  but 
which  it  was,  perhaps,  not  yet  too  late  .to  rectify  ; 
and  he  concluded  by  admonishing  her,  that,  if  she 
valued  her  own  fame,  or  the  interests  of  her  soul, 
she  would  compel  this  man  of  yesterday  to  abdicate 
the  office,  for  which  he  had  proved  himself  so 
incompetent,  and  return  to  his  original  obscurity  ! 

The  queen,  who  listened  to  this  violent  harangue 
with  an  indignation,  that  prompted  her  more  than 
once  to  order  the  speaker  from  her  presence,  put  a 
restraint  on  her  feelings,  and  patiently  waited  to 
the  end.  When  he  had  finished,  she  calmly  asked 
him,  64  If  he  was  in  his  senses,  and  knew  whom  he 
was  thus  addressing?"  "  Yes,"  replied  the  en- 
raged friar,  "  I  am  in  my  senses,  and  know  very 
well  whom  I  am  speaking  to  ;  —  the  queen  of  Cas- 
tile, a  mere  handful  of  dust,  like  myself!"  With 
these  words,  he  rushed  out  of  the  apartment,  shut- 
ting the  door  after  him  with  furious  violence.36 

Such  impotent  bursts  of  passion  could,  of  course, 
have  no  power  to  turn  the  queen  from  her  purpose. 

#5  l'leohier,  Hist,  de  Ximen6s,  Rey  Hernando,  lib.  3,  cap.  15  — 
pp.  50,  58.  — Gomez,  De  Rebus  Robles.  Vida  de  Ximenez,  cap.  13. 
Uestis,  fol.  14.  —  Zurita,  Hist,  del 


MONASTIC  REFORMS. 


395 


The  genera],  however,  on  his  return  to  Italy,  had  cjiapteu 
sufficient  address  to  obtain  authority  from  His  Holi-   v'  . 

,  r  1  r>        «i        Tne  Pope'g 

ness  to  send  a  commission  ot  conventuals  to  Lastile,  interference 
who  should  be  associated  with  Ximenes  in  the 
management  of  the  reform.  These  individuals  soon 
found  themselves  mere  ciphers  ;  and,  highly  offend- 
ed at  the  little  account  which  the  archbishop  made 
of  their  authority,  they  preferred  such  complaints  of 
his  proceedings  to  the  pontifical  court,  that  Alexan- 
der the  Sixth  was  induced,  with  the  advice  of  the 
college  of  cardinals,  to  issue  a  brief,  November  9th, 
1496,  peremptorily  inhibiting  the  sovereigns  from 
proceeding  further  in  the  affair,  until  it  had  been 
regularly  submitted  for  examination  to  the  head  of 
the  church. 37 

Isabella,  on  receiving  this  unwelcome  mandate,  c«wwt»tq 

7  O  '    the  relorm . 

instantly  sent  it  to  Ximenes.  The  spirit  of  the 
latter,  however,  rose  in  proportion  to  the  obstacles 
it  had  to  encounter.  He  sought  only  to  rally  the 
queen's  courage,  beseeching  her  not  to  feint  in  the 
good  work,  now  that  it  was  so  far  advanced,  and 
assuring  her  that  it  was  already  attended  with  such 
beneficent  fruits,  as  could  not  fail  to  secure  the  pro- 
tection of  Heaven.  Isabella,  every  act  of  whose 
administration  may  be  said  to  have  had  reference, 
more  or  less  remote,  to  the  interests  of  religion,  was 
as  little  likely  as  himself  to  falter  in  a  matter,  which 
proposed  these  interests  as  its  direct  and  only  ob- 
ject.    She  assured  her  minister  that  she  would 


37  Gomez,  De  Rebus  Gestis,  fol.  23. — Quintanilla,  Archetype-,  lib. 
1,  cap.  11. 


396  RISE  OF  XIMENES. 

part     support  him  in  all  that  was  practicable;   and  she 
"       lost  no  time  in  presenting  the  affair,  through  her 
agents,  in  such  a  light  to  the  court  of  Rome,  as 
might  work  a  more  favorable  disposition  in  it.  In 
this  she  succeeded,  though  not  till  after  multiplied 
delays  and  embarrassments  ;  and  such  ample  pow- 
1497.    ers  were  conceded  to  Ximenes,  in  conjunction  with 
the  apostolic  nuncio,  as  enabled  him  to  consummate 
his  grand  scheme  of  reform,  in  defiance  of  all  the 
efforts  of  his  enemies.38 
its  operation      The  reformation  thus  introduced  extended  to  the 

and  ettects. 

religious  institutions  of  every  order  equally  with  his 
own.  It  was  most  searching  in  its  operation,  reach- 
ing eventually  to  the  moral  conduct  of  the  subjects 
of  it,  no  less  than  the  mere  points  of  monastic  dis- 
cipline. As  regards  the  latter,  it  may  be  thought 
of  doubtful  benefit  to  have  enforced  the  rigid  inter- 
pretation of  a  rule,  founded  on  the  melancholy  prin- 
ciple, that  the  amount  of  happiness  in  the  next 
world  is  to  be  regulated  by  that  of  self-inflicted 
suffering  in  this.  But  it  should  be  remembered, 
that,  however  objectionable  such  a  rule  may  be  in 
itself,  yet,  where  it  is  voluntarily  assumed  as  an  im- 
perative moral  obligation,  it  cannot  be  disregarded 
without  throwing  down  the  barrier  to  unbounded 
license  ;  and  that  the  reassertion  of  it,  under  these 
circumstances,  must  be  a  necessary  preliminary  to 
any  effectual  reform  of  morals. 


38  Quintanilla,  Archetypo,  lib.  1, 
cap.  11-14.  —  Riol  discusses  the 
various  monastic  reforms  effected 


by  Ximenes,  in  his  Memorial  to 
Philip  V.,  apud  Semanario  Erudito, 
torn.  iii.  pp.  102-  1 10. 


MONASTIC  REFORMS. 


397 


The  beneficial  changes  wrought  in  this  latter  chaftbb 
particular,  which  Isabella  had  far  more  at  heart 
than  any  exterior  forms  of  discipline,  are  the  theme 
of  unqualified  panegyric  with  her  contemporaries.39 
The  Spanish  clergy,  as  I  have  before  had  occasion 
to  remark,  were  early  noted  for  their  dissolute  way 
of  life,  which,  to  a  certain  extent,  seemed  to  be 
countenanced  by  the  law  itself.40  This  laxity  of 
morals  was  carried  to  a  most  lamentable  extent 
under  the  last  reign,  when  all  orders  of  ecclesias- 
tics, whether  regular  or  secular,  infected  probably 
by  the  corrupt  example  of  the  court,  are  repre- 
sented (we  may  hope  it  is  an  exaggeration)  as 
wallowing  in  all  the  excesses  of  sloth  and  sensual- 
ity. So  deplorable  a  pollution  of  the  very  sanctu- 
aries of  religion  could  not  fail  to  occasion  sincere 
regret  to  a  pure  and  virtuous  mind  like  Isabella's. 
The  stain  had  sunk  too  deep,  however,  to  be  read- 
ily purged  away.  Her  personal  example,  indeed, 
and  the  scrupulous  integrity  with  which  she  re* 
served  all  ecclesiastical  preferment  for  persons  of 
unblemished  piety,  contributed  greatly  to  bring 
about  an  amelioration  in  the  morals  of  the  secular 
clergy.    But  the  secluded  inmates  of  the  cloister 

39  L.  Marineo,  Cosas  Memora-  nas,  as  they  were  called,  was  at 
bles,  fol.  165.  —  Berr.aldez,  Heye*  length  so  intolerable  as  to  call  for 
Catolicos,  MS.,  cap.  201.  —  et  al.  repeated  laws,  regulating  their  ap- 

40  The  practice  of  concubinage  parel,  and  prescribing  a  badge  for 
by  the  clergy  was  fully  recognised,  distinguishing  them  from  honest 
and  the  ancient  fucros  of  Castile  women.  (Sempere,  Hist,  del  Lu- 
permitted  their  issue  to  inherit  the  xo,  torn.  i.  pp.  105-1(19.)  Spain 
eyiai"S  of  such  parents  as  died  is  probably  the  only  country  in 
intestate.  (See  Marina,  Ensayo  Christendom,  where  concubinage 
Histoiico-Critico  sobre  la  Antigua  was  ever  sanctioned  by  law  ;  a  cir- 
Legislacion  de  Castilla,  (Madrid,  cumstance  doubtless  imputable,  in 
1808,)  p.  184.)  The  effrontery  of  some  measure,  to  the  influence  of 
these  legalized  strumpets,  barraga-  the  Mahometans. 


398 


RISE  OF  XIMENES. 


past     were  less  open  to  these  influences;  and  the  work 
-     '   -  of  reform  could  only  be  accomplished  there,  by 
bringing  them  back  to  a  reverence  for  their  own 
institutions,  and  by  the  slow  operation  of  public 
opinion. 

Notwithstanding  the  queen's  most  earnest  wish- 
es, it  may  be  doubted  whether  this  would  have 
ever  been  achieved  without  the  cooperation  of  a 
man  like  Ximenes,  whose  character  combined  in 
itself  all  the  essential  elements  of  a  reformer. 
Happily,  Isabella  was  permitted  to  see  before  her 
death,  if  not  the  completion,  at  least  the  com- 
mencement, of  a  decided  amendment  in  the  morals 
of  the  religious  orders ;  an  amendment,  which,  so 
far  from  being  transitory  in  its  character,  calls  forth 
the  most  emphatic  eulogium  from  a  Castilian 
writer  far  in  the  following  century  ;  who,  while  he 
laments  their  ancient  laxity,  boldly  challenges 
comparison  for  the  religious  communities  of  his 
own  country,  with  those  of  any  other,  in  temper- 
ance, chastity,  and  exemplary  purity  of  life  and 
conversation. 41 

41  Gomez,  De  Rebus  Gestis,  fol.  23. 


Alvaro  Go-  The  authority  on  whom  the  life 
Mother.  ?f  Cardinal  Ximenes  mainly  rests, 
of  Ximenes.  is  Alvaro  Gomez  de  Castro.  He 
was  born  in  the  village  of  St.  Eu- 
lalia,  near  Toledo,  in  1515,  and 
received  his  education  at  Alcala, 
where  he  obtained  great  repute  for 
his  critical  acquaintance  with  the 
ancient  classics.  He  was  after- 
wards made  professor  of  the  hu- 
manities in  the  university  ;  a  situ- 


ation which  he  filled  with  credit, 
but  subsequently  exchanged  for 
the  rhetorical  chair  in  a  school  re- 
cently founded  at  Toledo.  While 
thus  occupied,  he  was  chosen  by 
the  university  of  Alcala  to  pay  the 
most  distinguished  honor,  which 
could  be  rendered  to  the  memory 
of  its  illustrious  founder,  by  a  faith- 
ful record  of  his  extraordinary  life. 
The  most  authentic  sources  of  in- 


MONASTIC  REFORMS. 


formation  were  thrown  open  to 
him.  He  obtained  an  intimate  ac- 
quaintance with  the  private  life  of 
the  cardinal,  from  three  of  his 
principal  domestics,  who  furnished 
abundance  of  reminiscences  from 
personal  observation,  while  the  ar- 
chives of  the  university  supplied  a 
mass  of  documents  relating  to  the 
public  services  of  its  patron.  From 
these  and  similar  materials,  Gomez 
prepared  his  biography,  after  many 
years  of  patient  labor.  The  work 
Fully  answered  public  expectation  ; 
and  its  merits  are  such  as  to  lead 
the  learned  Nic.  Antonio  to  ex- 
press a  doubt,  whether  any  thing 
more  excellent  or  perfect  in  its  way 
could  be  achieved;  "quo  opere  in 
eo  genere  an  praestantius  quidquam 
aut  perfectius,  esse  possit,  non  im- 
merito  same  dubitavi."  (Biblio- 
theca  Nova,  torn.  i.  p.  59.)  The 
encomium  may  be  thought  some- 
what excessive  ;  but  it  cannot  be 
denied,  that  the  narrative  is  written 
in  an  easy  and  natural  manner, 
with  fidelity  and  accuracy,  with 
commendable  liberality  of  opinion, 
though  with  a  judgment  sometimes 
warped  into  an  undue  estimate  of 
the  qualities  of  his  hero.  It  is 
distinguished,  moreover,  by  such 
beauty  and  correctness  of  Latinity, 
as  have  made  it  a  text-book  in 
many  of  the  schools  and  colleges 
of  the  Peninsula.  The  first  edition, 
being  that  used  in  the  present 
work,  was  published  at  Alcala,  in 
1509.  It  has  since  been  reprinted 
twice  in  Germany,  and  perhaps 
elsewhere.  Gomez  was  busily 
occupied  with  other  literary  lu- 
cubrations during  the  remainder 
of  his  life,  and  published  several 
works  in  Latin  prose  and  verse, 
both  of  which  he  wrote  with  ease 
and  elegance.  He  died  of  a  ca- 
tarrh, in  1580,  in  the  sixty-sixth 
year  of  his  age,  leaving  behind 
him  a  reputation  for  disinterested- 
ness end  virtue,  which  is  suflicient- 
ly  commemorated  in  two  lines  of 
his  epitaph ; 

"  Nemini  unquam  sciens  nocui, 
Prodesse  quain  pluribus  curavi." 


The  work  of  Gomez  has  fur-  chatter 
nished  the  basis  for  all  those  biog-  v. 

raphies  of  Ximenes  which  have  

since  appeared  in  Spain.  The 
most  important  of  these,  proba- 
bly, is  Quimanilla's ;  which,  with 
little  merit  of  selection  or  arrange- 
ment, presents  a  copious  mass  of 
details,  drawn  from  every  quarter 
whence  his  patient  industry  could 
glean  them.  Its  author  was  a 
Franciscan,  and  employed  in  pro- 
curing the  beatification  of  Cardinal 
Ximenes  by  the  court  of  Rome  ;  a 
circumstance  which  probably  dis- 
posed him  to  easier  faith  in  the 
marvellous  of  his  story,  than  most 
of  his  readers  will  be  ready  to  give. 
The  work  was  published  at  Paler- 
mo in  1053. 

In  addition  to  these  authorities  I 
have  availed  myself  of  a  curious 
old  manuscript,  presented  to  me  by- 
Mr.  O.  Rich,  entitled  "  Suma  de  la 
Vida  del  R.  S.  Cardenal  Don  Fr. 
Francisco  Ximenez  de  Cisneros." 
It  was  written  within  half  a  centu- 
ry after  the  cardinal's  death,  by 
"  un  criado  de  la  casa  de  Corufla." 
The  original,  in  "very  ancient  let- 
ter,*' was  extant  in  the  archives  of 
that  noble  house  in  Quintanilla's 
time,  and  is  often  cited  by  him. 
(Archetypo.  apend.,  p.  77.)  Its 
author  evidently  had  access  to 
tbose  contemporary  notices,  some 
of  which  furnished  the  basis  of 
Castro's  narrative,  from  which, 
indeed,  it  exhibits  no  material 
discrepancy. 

The  extraordinary  character  of 
Ximenes  has  naturally  attracted 
the  attention  of  foreign  writers, 
and  especially  the  French,  who 
have  produced  repeated  biogra- 
phies of  him.  The  most  eminent 
of  these  is  by  Flechicr,  the  elo- 
quent bishop  of  Nismes.  It  is 
written  with  the  simple  elegance 
and  perspicuity,  which  characterize 
his  other  compositions  ;  and  in  the 
general  tone  of  its  sentiments,  on 
all  matters  both  of  church  and 
state,  is  quite  as  orthodox  as  the 
most  bigoted  admirer  of  the  cardi- 
nal could  desire.    Another  life,  by 


RISE  OF  XIMENES. 


Marsollicr,  has  obtained  a  very  un- 
deserved repute.  The  author,  not 
content  with  the  extraordinary 
qualities  really  appertaining  to  his 
hero,  makes  him  out  a  sort  of  uni- 
versal genius,  quite  ridiculous,  ri- 
valling-Moliere's  Dr.  Pancrace  him- 
self. One  may  form  some  idea  of 
the  historian's  accuracy  from  the 
fact,  that  he  refers  the  commence- 


ment and  conduct  of  the  war  of 
Granada  chiefly  to  the  counsels  of 
Ximenes,  who,  as  we  have  seen, 
was  not  even  introduced  at  court 
till  after  the  close  of  the  war. 
Marsollier  reckoned  largely  on  the 
ignorance  and  gullibility  of  his 
readers.  The  event  proved  hb 
was  not  mistaken. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


XIMENES  IN  GRANADA.  — PERSECUTION,  INSURRECTION,  AND 
CONVERSION  OF  THE  MOORS. 

1499  —  1500. 

Tranquil  State  of  Granada. — Mild  Policy  of  Talavera.  —  Clergy  Dis- 
satisfied with  it.  —  Violent  Measures  of  Ximenes.  —  His  Fanaticism. 
—  Its  mischievous  Effects.  — Insurrection  in  Granada.  — Tranquillity 
restored.  —  Baptism  of  the  Inhabitants. 

Moral  energy,  or  constancy  of  purpose,  seems  chapter 

to  be  less  properly  an  independent  power  of  the   ■ — 

mind  than  a  mode  of  action,  by  which  its  various  Jem!?£Jlory 
powers  operate  with  effect.  But,  however  this 
may  be,  it  enters  more  largely,  perhaps,  than  mere 
talent,  as  commonly  understood,  into  the  formation 
of  what  is  called  character,  and  is  often  confounded 
by  the  vulgar  with  talent  of  the  highest  order.  In 
the  ordinary  concerns  of  life,  indeed,  it  is  more  ser- 
viceable than  brilliant  parts  ;  while,  in  the  more  im- 
portant, these  latter  are  of  little  weight  without  it, 
evaporating  only  in  brief  and  barren  flashes,  which 
may  dazzle  the  eye  by  their  splendor,  but  pass 
away  and  are  forgotten 

The  importance  of  moral  energy  is  felt  not  only, 
where  it  would  be  expected,  in  the  concerns  of 
active  life,  but  in  those  more   exclusively  of  an 

VOL.  II.  51 


402 


XIMENES. 


part  intellectual  character,  in  deliberative  assemblies, 
— ■ —  for  example,  where  talent,  as  usually  understood, 
might  be  supposed  to  assert  an  absolute  supremacy, 
but  where  it  is  invariably  made  to  bend  to  the  con- 
trolling influence  of  this  principle.  No  man  desti- 
tute of  it  can  be  the  leader  of  a  party  ;  while  there 
are  few  leaders,  probably,  who  do  not  number  in 
their  ranks  minds,  from  which  they  would  be  com- 
pelled to  shrink  in  a  contest  for  purely  intellectual 
preeminence. 

This  energy  of  purpose  presents  itself  in  a  yet 
more  imposing  form  when  stimulated  by  some  in- 
tense passion,  as  ambition,  or  the  nobler  principle 
of  patriotism  or  religion  ;  when  the  soul,  spurning 
vulgar  considerations  of  interest,  is  ready  to  do  and 
to  dare  all  for  conscience'  sake  ;  when,  insensible 
alike  to  all  that  this  world  can  give  or  take  away, 
it  loosens  itself  from  the  gross  ties  which  bind  it 
to  earth,  and,  however  humble  its  powers  in  every 
other  point  of  view,  attains  a  grandeur  and  eleva- 
tion, which  genius  alone,  however  gifted,  can  never 
reach. 

But  it  is  when  associated  with  exalted  genius, 
and  under  the  action  of  the  potent  principles  above 
mentioned,  that  this  moral  energy  conveys  an  image 
of  power,  which  approaches,  nearer  than  any  thing 
else  on  earth,  to  that  of  a  divine  intelligence.  It 
is,  indeed,  such  agents  that  Providence  selects  for 
the  accomplishment  of  those  great  revolutions,  by 
which  the  world  is  shaken  to  its  foundations,  new 
and  more  beautiful  systems  created,  and  the  human 
mind  canied  forward  at  a  single  stride,  in  the  ca- 


PERSECUTIONS  IN  GRANADA. 


403 


reer  of  improvement,  further  than  it  had  advanced  chapter 

•  VI 

for  centuries.    It  must,  indeed,  be  confessed,  that   !  

this  powerful  agency  is  sometimes  for  evil,  as  well 
as  for  good.  It  is  this  same  impulse,  which  spurs 
guilty  Ambition  along  his  bloody  track,  and  which 
arms  the  hand  of  the  patriot  sternly  to  resist  him  ; 
which  glows  with  holy  fervor  in  the  bosom  of  the 
martyr,  and  which  lights  up  the  fires  of  persecu- 
tion, by  which  he  is  to  win  his  crown  of  glory. 
The  direction  of  the  impulse,  differing  in  the  same 
individual  under  different  circumstances,  can  alone 
determine  whether  he  shall  be  the  scourge  or  the 
benefactor  of  his  species. 

These  reflections  have  been  suggested  by  the  ximenes, 

i  t       r         his  constan- 

character  of  the  extraordinary  person  brought  for-  j?og°fpur- 
ward  in  the  preceding  chapter,  Ximenes  de  Cisne- 
ros,  and  the  new  and  less  advantageous  aspect,  in 
which  he  must  now  appear  to  the  reader.  Inflexi- 
ble constancy  of  purpose  formed,  perhaps,  the  most 
prominent  trait  of  his  remarkable  character.  What 
direction  it  might  have  received  under  other  circum- 
stances it  is  impossible  to  say.  It  would  be  no 
great  stretch  of  fancy  to  imagine,  that  the  unyield- 
ing spirit,  which  in  its  early  days  could  voluntarily 
endure  years  of  imprisonment,  rather  than  submit  to 
an  act  of  ecclesiastical  oppression,  might  under  sim- 
ilar influences  have  been  aroused,  like  Luther's,  to 
shake  down  the  ancient  pillars  of  Catholicism,  in- 
stead of  lending  all  its  strength  to  uphold  them. 
The  latter  position,  however,  would  seem  better 
assimilated  to  the  constitution  of  his  mind,  whose 
sombre  enthusiasm  naturally  prepared  him  for  the 


404 


XIMENES. 


part     vague  and  mysterious  in  the  Romish  faith,  as  his 
  .  inflexible  temper  did  for  its  bold  and  arrogant  dog- 
mas.   At  any  rate,  it  was  to  this  cause  he  devoted 
the  whole  strength  of  his  talents  and  commanding 
energies. 

We  have  seen  in  the  preceding  chapter,  with 
what  promptness  he  entered  on  the  reform  of  reli- 
gious discipline,  as  soon  as  he  came  into  office,  and 
with  what  pertinacity  he  pursued  it,  in  contempt  of 
all  personal  interest  and  popularity.  We  are  now 
to  see  him  with  similar  zeal  devoting  himself  to  the 
extirpation  of  heresy  ;  with  contempt  not  merely 
of  personal  consequences,  but  also  of  the  most  obvi- 
ous principles  of  good  faith  and  national  honor. 
JtS"  of11  Nearly  eight  years  had  elapsed  since  the  conquest 
Granada.  of  Granada,  and  the  subjugated  kingdom  continued 
to  repose  in  peaceful  security  under  the  shadow  of 
the  treaty,  which  guarantied  the  unmolested  enjoy- 
ment of  its  ancient  laws  and  religion.  This  unbro- 
ken continuance  of  public  tranquillity,  especially 
difficult  to  be  maintained  among  the  jarring  ele- 
ments of  the  capital,  whose  motley  population  of 
Moors,  renegades,  and  Christians,  suggested  per- 
petual points  of  collision,  must  be  chiefly  referred 
to  the  discreet  and  temperate  conduct  of  the  two 
individuals,  whom  Isabella  had  charged  with  the 
civil  and  ecclesiastical  government.  These  were 
Mendoza,  count  of  Tendilla,  and  Talavera,  arch- 
bishop of  Granada. 
Tendnia  The  former,  the  brightest  ornament  of  his  illus- 
trious house,  has  been  before  made  known  to  the 
reader  by  his  various  important  services,  both  mili- 


PERSECUTIONS  IN  GRANADA. 


405 


tary  and  diplomatic.    Immediately  after  the  con-  chapter 
quest  of  Granada  he  was  made  alcayde  and  captain  - — ' — 
general  of  the  kingdom,  a  post  for  which  he  was 
every  way  qualified  by  his  prudence,  firmness,  en- 
lightened views,  and  long  experience.1 

The  latter  personage,  of  more  humble  extraction,2  Tuiavera. 
was  Fray  Fernando  de  Talavera,  a  Hieronymite 
monk,  who,  having  been  twenty  years  prior  of  the 
monastery  of  Santa  Maria  del  Prado,  near  Vallado- 
lid,  was  made  confessor  of  Queen  Isabella,  and 
afterwards  of  the  king.  This  situation  necessarily 
gave  him  considerable  influence  in  all  public  meas- 
ures. If  the  keeping  of  the  royal  conscience  could 
be  safely  intrusted  to  any  one,  it  might  certainly  be 
to  this  estimable  prelate,  equally  distinguished  for  his 
learning,  amiable  manners,  and  unblemished  piety  ; 
and,  if  his  character  was  somewhat  tainted  with 
bigotry,  it  was  in  so  mild  a  form,  so  far  tempered 
by  the  natural  benevolence  of  his  disposition,  as  to 
make  a  favorable  contrast  to  the  dominant  spirit  of 
the  time.3 


1  "  Hombre,"  says  his  son,  the 
historian,  of  him,  "  de  prudencia 
en  negocios  graves,  de  animo 
firme,  asegurado  con  luenga  expe- 
riencia  de  rencuentros  i  battalias 
panadas. "  (Guerra  de  Granada, 
lib.  1,  p.  9.)  Oviedo  dwells  with 
sufficient  amplification  on  the  per- 
sonal history  and  merits  of  this 
distinguished  individual,  in  his  gar- 
rulous reminiscences.  Quincuage- 
nas,  MS.,  bat.  1,  quinc.  1,  dial.  28. 

a  Oviedo,  at  least,  can  find  no 
better  pedigree  for  him,  than  that 
of  Adam.  "  Quanto  a  su  linage 
el  fue  del  linage  de  todos  los  hu- 
manos  6  de  aquel  barro  y  subce- 


sion  de  Adan."  (Quincuagenas, 
MS.,  dial,  de  Talavera.)  It  is  a 
very  hard  case,  when  a  Castilian 
cannot  make  out  a  better  genealo- 
gy for  his  hero. 

3  Pedraza,  Antiguedad  de  Gra- 
nada, lib.  3,  cap.  10.  —  Marmol, 
Rebelion  de  Moriscos,  lib.  1,  cap. 
21. 

Talavera's  correspondence  with 
the  queen,  published  in  various 
works,  but  most  correctly,  proba- 
bly, in  the  sixth  volume  of  the  Mem. 
de  la  Acad,  de  Hist.,  (Tlust.  13.)  is 
not  calculated  to  raise  his  reputa- 
tion. His  letters  are  little  else 
than  homilies  on  the  love  of  com- 


406 


XIMENES. 


part        After  the  conquest,  he  exchanged  the  bishopric 

 —       of  Avila  for  the  archiepiscopal  see  of  Granada. 

iforaSdil  Notwithstanding  the  wishes  of  the  sovereigns,  he 
refused  to  accept  any  increase  of  emolument  in  this 
new  and  more  exalted  station.  His  revenues,  in- 
deed, which  amounted  to  two  millions  of  maravedies 
annually,  were  somewhat  less  than  he  before  en- 
joyed.4 The  greater  part  of  this  sum  he  liberally 
expended  on  public  improvements  and  works  of 
charity  ;  objects,  which,  to  their  credit  be  it  spoken, 
have  rarely  failed  to  engage  a  large  share  of  the  at- 
tention and  resources  of  the  higher  Spanish  clergy. 5 
Hismiid         The  subject  which  pressed  most  seriously  on  the 

policy.  J  r  J 

mind  of  the  good  archbishop,  was  the  conversion  of 
the  Moors,  whose  spiritual  blindness  he  regarded 
with  feelings  of  tenderness  and  charity,  very  differ- 
ent from  those  entertained  by  most  of  his  reverend 
brethren.  He  proposed  to  accomplish  this  by  the 
most  rational  method  possible.  Though  late  in  life, 
he  set  about  learning  Arabic,  that  he  might  commu- 
nicate with  the  Moors  in  their  own  language,  and 
commanded   his   clergy  to  do  the   same. 6  He 


pany ,  dancing,  and  the  like  heinous 
offences.  The  whole  savours  more 
of  the  sharp  twang  of  Puritanism 
than  of  the  Roman  Catholic,  school. 
But  bigotry  is  neutral  ground,  on 
which  the  most  opposite  sects  may 
meet. 

4  Pedraza,  Anliguedad  de  Gran- 
ada, lib.  3,  cap.  10.  —  Marmol,  lib. 
1,  cap.  21. 

Equivalent  to  56.000  dollars  of 
the  present  day  ;  a  sum  which  Pe- 
draza makes  do  quite  as  hard  duty, 
according  to  its  magnitude,  as  the 
500  pounds  of  Pope's  Man  of  Ross. 


5  Pedraza,  ubi  supr.  —  Oviedo, 
Quincuagenas,  MS.,  dial,  de  Tala- 
vera. 

The  worthy  archbishop's  bene- 
factions on  some  occasions  were  of 
rather  an  extraordinary  character. 
"  Pidiendole  limosna,"  says  Pe- 
draza, "  una  muger  que  no  tenia 
camisa,  se  entro  en  una  casa,  y  se 
desnudo  la  suya  y  se  la  dio  ;  di- 
ziendo  con  san  Pedro,  No  tengo 
oro  ni  plata  que  darte,  doyte  lo  que 
tengo."  Antiguedad  de  Granada, 
lib.  3,  cap.  10. 

6  Marmol,  Rebelion  de  Moriscos, 


PERSECUTIONS  IN  GRANADA. 


407 


caused  an  Arabic  vocabulary,  grammar,  and  catc-  chapter 

chism  to  be  compiled  ;  and  a  version  in  the  same   1 — 

tongue  to  be  made  of  the  liturgy,  comprehending 
the  selections  from  the  Gospels ;  and  proposed  to 
extend  this  at  some  future  time  to  the  whole 
body  of  the  Scriptures.7  Thus  unsealing  the  sacred 
oracles  which  had  been  hitherto  shut  out  from  their 
sight,  he  opened  to  them  the  only  true  sources 
of  Christian  knowledge  ;  and,  by  endeavouring  to 
effect  their  conversion  through  the  medium  of  their 
understandings,  instead  of  seducing  their  imagina- 
tions with  a  vain  show  of  ostentatious  ceremonies, 
proposed  the  only  method  by  which  conversion 
could  be  sincere  and  permanent. 

These  wise  and  benevolent  measures  of  the  good 
prelate,  recommended,  as  they  were,  by  the  most 
exemplary  purity  of  life,  acquired  him  great  author- 
ity among  the  Moors,  who,  estimating  the  value  of 
the  doctrine  by  its  fruits,  were  well  inclined  to  lis- 
ten to  it,  and  numbers  were  daily  added  to  the 
church.8 

The  progress  of  proselytism,  however,  was  neces- 


lib.  1,  cap.  21.  —  Pedraza,  A.nti- 
guedad  de  Granada,  ubi  supra. 

7  Flechier,  Hist,  de  Ximenes, 
p.  17. —  Quintanilla,  Archetypo, 
lib.  2,  cap.  2.  —  Gomez,  De  Rebus 
Gestis,  fol.  32.  —  Oviedo,  Quin- 
cuajjenas,  MS. 

These  tracts  were  published  at 
Granada,  in  1505,  in  the  European 
character,  being  the  first  books 
ever  printed  in  the  Arabic  lan- 
guage according  to  Dr.  M'Crie, 
(Reformation  in  Spain,  p.  70,)  who 
cites  Schnurrer,  Bibl.  Arabica,  pp. 
16-18. 


8  Bleda,  Coroniea,  lib.  5,  cap. 
23.  —  Pedraza,  Antiguedad  de  Gra- 
nada, lib.  3,  cap.  10.  —  Marmol, 
Rebelion  de  Moriscos,  lib.  1,  cap. 
21.  —  Gomez,  De  Rebus  Gestis, 
fol.  29.  —  "  Hacia  lo  que  predica- 
ba,  e  predico  lo  que  hizo,"  says 
Oviedo  of  the  archbishop,  briefly, 
"  e  asi  fue  mucho  provechoso  e  util 
en  aquella  ciudad  para  la  conver- 
sion de  los  Moros."  Quincuage- 
nas,  MS. 


408 


XIMENES. 


PART 
II. 


The  clergy 
dissatisfied 
with  U. 


Temperate 
sway  of  the 
sovereigns. 


sarily  slow  and  painful  among  a  people  reared  from 
the  cradle,  not  merely  in  antipathy  to,  but  abhor- 
rence of,  Christianity ;  who  were  severed  from  the 
Christian  community  by  strong  dissimilarity  of  lan- 
guage, habits,  and  institutions  ;  and  now  indissolu- 
bly  knit  together  by  a  common  sense  of  national 
misfortune.  Many  of  the  more  zealous  clergy  and 
religious  persons,  conceiving,  indeed,  this  barrier 
altogether  insurmountable,  were  desirous  of  seeing 
it  swept  away  at  once  by  the  strong  arm  of  power. 
They  represented  to  the  sovereigns,  that  it  seemed 
like  insensibility  to  the  goodness  of  Providence, 
which  had  delivered  the  infidels  into  their  hands,  to 
allow  them  any  longer  to  usurp  the  fair  inheritance 
of  the  Christians,  and  that  the  whole  of  the  stiff- 
necked  race  of  Mahomet  might  justly  be  required  to 
submit  without  exception  to  instant  baptism,  or  to 
sell  their  estates  and  remove  to  Africa.  This,  they 
maintained,  could  be  scarcely  regarded  as  an  in- 
fringement of  the  treaty,  since  the  Moors  would  be 
so  great  gainers  on  the  score  of  their  eternal  salva- 
tion ;  to  say  nothing  of  the  indispensableness  of 
such  a  measure  to  the  permanent  tranquillity  and 
security  of  the  kingdom  ! 9 

But  these  considerations,  "just  and  holy  as  they 
were,"  to  borrow  the  words  of  a  devout  Spaniard,10 
failed  to  convince  the  sovereigns,  who  resolved  to 
abide  by  their  royal  word,  and  to  trust  to  the  con- 
ciliatory measures  now  in  progress,  and  a  longer 
and  more  intimate  intercourse  with  the  Christians, 


9  Marmol,  Rebelion  de  Moriscos,  10  Ibid.,  ubi  supra, 
lib.  1,  cap.  23. 


PERSECUTIONS  IN  GRANADA.  409 

as  the  only  legitimate  means  for  accomplishing  chapter 
their  object.     Accordingly,  we  find  the  various   —  


Nov 


public  ordinances,  as  low  down  as  1499,  recog- 
nising this  principle,  by  the  respect  which  they 
show  for  the  most  trivial  usages  of  the  Moors, 11 
and  by  their  sanctioning  no  other  stimulant  to  con- 
version than  the  amelioration  of  their  condition.12 

Among  those  in  favor  of  more  active  measures  ximenwin 

°  Granada. 

was  Ximenes,  archbishop  of  Toledo.  Having  fol- 
lowed the  court  to  Granada  in  the  autumn  of  1499, 
he  took  the  occasion  to  communicate  his  views  to 
Talavera,  the  archbishop,  requesting  leave  at  the 
same  time  to  participate  with  him  in  his  labor  of 
love ;  to  which  the  latter,  willing  to  strengthen 
himself  by  so  efficient  an  ally,  modestly  assented. 
Ferdinand  and  Isabella  soon  after  removed  to  14  99. 
Seville  ;  but,  before  their  departure,  enjoined  on 
the  prelates  to  observe  the  temperate  policy  hith- 
erto pursued,  and  to  beware  of  giving  any  occasion 
for  discontent  to  the  Moors.13 


11  In  the  jiragmdhca  dated  Gra-  some  inaccuracy.  Hist,  de  l'lnqui- 
nada,  October  30th,  1499,  prohibit-  sition,  torn.  i.  p.  334. 

ing  silk  apparel  of  any  description,       13  Bleda,  Coronica,  lib.  5,  cap. 

an  exception  was  made  in  favor  of  23.  —  Gomez,  De  Rebus  Gestis, 

the  Moors,  whose  robes  were  usu-  fol.  29.  —  Quintanilla,  Archetypo, 

ally  of  that  material,  among  the  lib.  2,  p.  54.— Sumade  la  Vida  de 

wealthier  classes.  Pragmaticas  del  Cisneros,  MS. 
Rev  do,  fol.  120.  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  accord - 

12  Another  law,  October  3 1st,  ing  to  Ferreras,  took  counsel  of 
1499,  provided  against  the  disin-  sundry  learned  theologians  and  ju- 
heritance  of  Moorish  children  who  rists,  whether  they  could  lawfully 
had  embraced  Christianity,  and  compel  ihe  Mahometans  to  become 
secured,  moreover,  to  the  female  Christians,  notwithstanding  the 
converts  a  portion  of  the  property  treaty,  which  guarantied  to  them 
which  had  fallen  to  the  state  on  the  the  exercise  of  their  religion.  After 
conquest  of  Granada.  (Pragmati-  repeated  conferencesof  this  erudite 
cas  del  Reyno,  fol.  5.)  Llorente  body,  "  il  fut  decide,"  says  the 
has  reported  this  pragmatic  with  historian,  "  qu'on  solliciteroit  la 

VOL.  II.  52 


41()  XIMENES. 

part  No  sooner  had  the  sovereigns  left  the  city,  than 
Ximenes  invited  some  of  the  leading  alfaquies,  or 
measures.  Mussulman  doctors,  to  a  conference,  in  which  he 
expounded,  with  all  the  eloquence  at  his  command, 
the  true  foundations  of  the  Christian  faith,  and  the 
errors  of  their  own  ;  and,  that  his  teaching  might 
be  the  more  palatable,  enforced  it  by  liberal  pres- 
ents, consisting  mostly  of  rich  and  costly  articles 
of  dress,  of  which  the  Moors  were  at  all  times 
exceedingly  fond.  This  policy  he  pursued  for  some 
time,  till  the  effect  became  visible.  Whether  the 
preaching  or  presents  of  the  archbishop  had  most 
weight,  does  not  appear.14  It  is  probable,  how- 
ever, that  the  Moorish  doctors  found  conversion  a 
much  more  pleasant  and  profitable  business  than 
they  had  anticipated  ;  for  they  one  after  another 
declared  their  conviction  of  their  errors,  and  their 
willingness  to  receive  baptism.  The  example  of 
these  learned  persons  was  soon  followed  by  great 
numbers  of  their  illiterate  disciples,  insomuch  that 
no  less  than  four  thousand  are  said  to  have  pre- 
sented themselves  in  one  day  for  baptism ;  and 
Ximenes,  unable  to  administer  the  rite  to  each  in- 
dividually, was  obliged  to  adopt  the  expedient  fa- 
miliar to  the  Christian  missionaries,  of  christening 
them  en  masse  by  aspersion  ;  scattering  the  con- 
conversion  des  Mahometans  de  la  ists  !  The  story,  however,  wants 
Ville  et  du  Royaume  de  Grenade,  a  better  voucher  than  Ferreras. 
en  ordonnant  a  ceux  qui  ne  vou-  14  The  honest  Robles  appears  to 
droient  pas  embrasser  la  religion  be  of  the  latter  opinion.  "Alfin," 
Chretienne,  de  vendre  leurs  biens  says  he,  with  naivete,  "con  hala- 
et  de  sortir  du  royaume."  (Hist,  gos,  dadivas,  y  caricias,los  truxo  a 
d'Espagne,  torn.  viii.  p.  194.)  conocimiento  del  verdadero  Pios  " 
Such  was  the  idea  of  solicitation  Vida  de  Ximenez,  p.  100. 
entertained  by  these  reverend  casu- 


PERSECUTIONS  IN  GRANADA. 


411 


secrated  drops  from  a  mop,  or  hyssop,  as  it  was  chapter 
called,  which  he  twirled  over  the  heads  of  the  — 
multitude. 15 

So  far  all  went  on  prosperously;  and  the  elo- 
quence and  largesses  of  the  archbishop,  which 
latter  he  lavished  so  freely  as  to  encumber  his  rev- 
enues for  several  years  to  come,  brought  crowds  of 
proselytes  to  the  Christian  fold.16  There  were 
some,  indeed,  among  the  Mahometans,  who  re- 
garded these  proceedings  as  repugnant,  if  not  to 
the  letter,  at  least  to  the  spirit  of  the  original 
treaty  of  capitulation  ;  which  seemed  intended  to 
provide,  not  only  against  the  employment  of  force, 
but  of  any  undue  incentive  to  conversion.17  Sev- 
eral of  the  more  sturdy,  including  some  of  the 
principal  citizens,  exerted  their  efforts  to  stay  the 
tide  of  defection,  which  threatened  soon  to  swal- 
low up  the  whole  population  of  the  city.  But 
Ximenes,  whose  zeal  had  mounted  up  to  fever  heat 
in  the  excitement  of  success,  was  not  to  be  cooled 
by  any  opposition,  however  formidable  ;  and,  if  he 

15  Robles,  Yida  de  Ximenez,  algun  Moro  tuviere  alguna  renega- 

cap.  14.  —  Marmol,  Rebelion   de  da  por  muger,  no  sera  apremiada  a 

Moriscos,  lib.  I,  cap.  24. — Gomez,  ser  Christiana  contra  su  voluntad, 

De  Rebus  Gestis,  fol.  29. —  Suma  sino  que  sera  interrogada,  en  pre- 

de  la  Vida  de  Cisneros,  MS.  sencia  de  Christianos  y  de  Moros, 

1(>  Robles,  Vida  de  Ximenez,  yse  siguira  su  voluntad  ;  y  lo  mes- 

cap.  14. — Quintanilla,  Archetypo,  mo  se  entendera  con  los  nifios  y 

fol.  55.  —  The  sound  of  bells,  so  nifias  nacidos  de  Christiana  y  Moro. 

unusual  to  Mahometan  ears,  peal-  Que  ningun  Moro  ni  Mora  seran 

ing  day  and  night  from  the  newly  apremiados  a  ser  Christianos  contra 

consecrated  mosques,  gained  Xim-  su  voluntad  ;  y  que  si  alguna  don- 

enes  the  appellation  of  alfaqui  cam-  cella,  6  casada,  6  viuda,  por  razon 

panero  from  the  Granadines.  Suma  de  algunos  amores  se  quisiere  tor- 

dela  Vida  de  Cisneros,  MS.  nar  Christiana,  tampoco  sera  rece- 

W  Marmol,  Rebelion  de  Moris-  bida,  hasta  ser  interrogada."  The 

cos,  lib.  1,  cap.  25.  whole  treaty  is  given  in  exteriso  by 

Take  for  example  the  following  Marmol,  and  by  no  other  author 

provisions  in  the  treaty.    "  Que  si  that  I  have  seen. 


412 


XIMEJSES. 


part  had  hitherto  respected  the  letter  of  the  treaty,  he 
— —  now  showed  himself  prepared  to  trample  on  letter 

and   spirit   indifferently,  when  they  crossed  his 

designs. 

Among  those  most  active  in  the  opposition  was  a 
noble  Moor  named  Zegri,  well  skilled  in  the  learn- 
ing of  his  countrymen,  with  whom  he  had  great 
consideration.  Ximenes,  having  exhausted  all  his 
usual  artillery  of  arguments  and  presents  on  this 
obdurate  infidel,  had  him  taken  into  custody  by  one 
of  his  officers  named  Leon,  "  a  lion,"  says  a  pun- 
ning historian,  "  by  nature  as  well  as  by  name,"  18 
and  commanded  the  latter  to  take  such  measures 
with  his  prisoner,  as  would  clear  the  film  from  his 
eyes.  This  faithful  functionary  executed  his  orders 
so  effectually,  that,  after  a  few  days  of  fasting,  fet- 
ters, and  imprisonment,  he  was  able  to  present  his 
charge  to  his  employer,  penitent  to  all  outward  ap- 
pearance, and  with  an  humble  mien  strongly  contrast- 
ing with  his  former  proud  and  lofty  bearing.  After 
the  most  respectful  obeisance  to  the  archbishop, 
Zegri  informed  him,  that  "  on  the  preceding  night 
he  had  had  a  revelation  from  Allah,  who  had  conde- 
scended to  show  him  the  error  of  his  ways,  and 
commanded  him  to  receive  instant  baptism "  ;  at 
the  same  time  pointing  to  his  gaoler,  he  "jocular- 
ly "  remarked,  "  Your  reverence  has  only  to  turn 
this  lion  of  yours  loose  among  the  people,  and 
my  word  for  it,  there  will  not  be  a  Mussulman 
left  many  days  within  the  walls  of  Granada."  19 


18  Gomez,  De  Rebus  Gestis,  lib.  19  Robles.  Rebelion  de  Moriscos, 
2,  fol.  29.  cap.  14.  — Suma  de  la  Vida  de 


PERSECUTIONS  IN  GRANADA. 


413 


"  Thus,"  exclaims  the  devout  Ferreras,  "  did  Prov-  chapter 

idence  avail  itself  of  the  darkness  of  the  dungeon  

to  pour  on  the  benighted  minds  of  the  infidel  the 
light  of  the  true  faith  !  "  20 

The  work  of  proselytism  now  went  on  apace  ;  J^3"* 
for  terror  was  added  to  the  other  stimulants.  The  booka* 
zealous  propagandist,  in  the  mean  while,  flushed 
with  success,  resolved  not  only  to  exterminate  infi- 
delity, but  the  very  characters  in  which  its  teach- 
ings were  recorded.  He  accordingly  caused  all  the 
Arabic  manuscripts  which  he  could  procure,  to  be 
heaped  together  in  a  common  pile  in  one  of  the 
great  squares  of  the  city.  The  largest  part  were 
copies  of  the  Koran,  or  works  in  some  way  or  other 
connected  with  theology  ;  with  many  others,  how- 
ever, on  various  scientific  subjects.  They  were 
beautifully  executed,  for  the  most  part,  as  to  their 
chirography,  and  sumptuously  bound  and  decorat- 
ed ;  for,  in  all  relating  to  the  mechanical  finishing, 
the  Spanish  Arabs  excelled  every  people  in  Europe. 
But  neither  splendor  of  outward  garniture,  nor  in- 
trinsic merit  of  composition,  could  atone  for  the 
taint  of  heresy  in  the  eye  of  the  stern  inquisitor  ; 
he  reserved  for  his  university  of  Alcala  three  hun- 
dred works,  indeed,  relating  to  medical  science,  in 
which  the  Moors  were  as  preeminent  in  that  day 
as  the  Europeans  were  deficient ;  but  all  the  rest, 

Cisneros,  MS. —  Gomez,  De  Re-  had  experienced  in  a  personal  ren- 

bus  Gestis,   fol.    30.  —  Marmol,  contre  in  the  veg^,  of  Granada. 

Rebelion  de  Moriscos,  lib.  1,  cap.  Marmol,  Rebelion  de  Moriscos,  ubi 

25.  supra.  —  Suma  de  la  Vida  de  Cis- 

Zegri  assumed  the    baptismal  neros,  MS. 
name  of  the  Great  Captain,  Gonza-       20  Hist.  d'Espagne,  torn.  viii.  p. 

lo  Hernandez,  whose  prowess  he  195. 


414 


XIMENES. 


PART 

u. 


amounting  to  many  thousands,21  he  consigned  to 
indiscriminate  conflagration. 22 

This  melancholy  auto  da  fe,  it  will  be  recollect- 
ed, was  celebrated,  not  by  an  unlettered  barbarian, 
but  by  a  cultivated  prelate,  who  was  at  that  very 
time  actively  employing  his  large  revenues  in  the 
publication  of  the  most  stupendous  literary  work  of 
the  age,  and  in  the  endowment  of  the  most  learned 
university  in  Spain. 23  It  took  place,  not  in  the 
darkness  of  the  middle  ages,  but  in  the  dawn  of 
the  sixteenth  century,  and  in  the  midst  of  an  en- 
lightened nation,  deeply  indebted  for  its  own  pro- 
gress to  these  very  stores  of  Arabian  wisdom.  It 
forms  a  counterpart  to  the  imputed  sacrilege  of 
Omar,24  eight  centuries  before,  and  shows  that 
bigotry  is  the  same  in  every  faith,  and  every  age. 


21  According  to  Robles,  (Rebe- 
lion  de  Moriscos,  p.  104.)  and  the 
Suma  de  la  Vida  de  Cisneros, 
1,005,000;  to  Conde,  (El  Nu- 
biense,  Descripcion  d'Espafia,  p. 
4,  note,)  80,000;  to  Gomez  and 
others  5,000.  There  are  scarcely 
any  data  for  arriving  at  probability 
in  this  monstrous  discrepancy.  The 
famous  library  of  the  Ommeyades 
at  Cordova  was  said  to  contain 
600,000  volumes.  It  had  long  since 
been  dissipated ;  and  no  similar 
collection  had  been  attempted  in 
Granada,  where  learning  was  never 
in  that  palmy  state  which  it  reach- 
ed under  the  Cordovan  dynasty. 
Still,  however,  learned  men  were 
to  be  found  there,  and  the  Moorish 
metropolis  would  naturally  be  the 
depository  of  such  literary  treasures 
as  had  escaped  the  general  ship- 
wreck of  time  and  accident.  On 
the  whole,  the  estimate  of  Gomez 
would  appear  much  too  small,  and 
that  of  Robles  as  disproportionate- 


ly exaggerated.  Conde,  better  in- 
structed in  Arabic  lore  than  any  of 
his  predecessors,  may  be  found, 
perhaps,  here,  as  elsewhere,  the 
best  authority. 

22  Gomez,  De  Rebue  Gestis,  lib. 
2,  fol.  30.  —  Marmol,  Rebelion  de 
Moriscos,  lib.  1,  cap.  25. —  Ro- 
bles, Vida  de  Ximenez,  cap.  14.  — 
Suma  de  la  Vida  de  Cisneros,  MS. 
—  Quintanilla,  Archetype,  p.  58. 

2y  Yet  the  archbishop  might  find 
some  countenance  for  his  fanati- 
cism, in  the  most  polite  capital  of 
Europe.  The  faculty  of  Theolo- 
gy in  Paris,  some  few  years  later, 
declared  "que  e'en  etait  fait  de  la 
religion,  si  on  permettait  l  etude  du 
Grec  et  de  l'Hebreu  !  "  Tillers, 
Essai  sur  FEsprit  et  lTnfluence  de 
la  Reformation  de  Luther,  (Paris, 
1820,)  p.  64,  note. 

24  Gibbon's  argument,  if  it  does 
not  shake  the  foundations  of  the 
whole  story  of  the  Alexandrian 
conflagration,  may  at  least  raise  a 


PERSECUTIONS  IN  GRANADA. 


415 


The  mischief  occasioned  by  this  act,  far  from  chaftcr 

being  limited  to  the  immediate  loss,  continued  to   —  

be  felt  still  more  severely  in  its  consequences.  SrSc*!™116 
Such  as  could,  secreted  the  manuscripts  in  their 
possession  till  an  opportunity  occurred  for  convey 
ing  them  out  of  the  country ;  and  many  thousands 
in  this  way  were  privately  shipped  over  to  Bar- 
bary. 25  Thus  Arabian  literature  became  rare  in 
the  libraries  of  the  very  country  to  which  it  was  in- 
digenous ;  and  Arabic  scholarship,  once  so  flourish- 
ing in  Spain,  and  that  too  in  far  less  polished  ages, 
gradually  fell  into  decay  from  want  of  aliment  to 
sustain  it.  Such  were  the  melancholy  results  of. 
this  literary  persecution ;  more  mischievous,  in  one 
view,  than  even  that  directed  against  life  ;  for  the 
loss  of  an  individual  will  scarcely  be  felt  beyond  his 
own  generation,  while  the  annihilation  of  a  valuable 
work,  or  in  other  words,  of  mind  itself  embodied  in 
a  permanent  form,  is  a  loss  to  all  future  time. 

The  high  hand  with  which  Ximenes  now  carried 
measures,  excited  serious  alarm  in  many  of  the 
more  discreet  and  temperate  Castilians  in  the  city. 
They  besought  him  to  use  greater  forbearance,  re- 
monstrating against  his  obvious  violations  of  the 
treaty,  as  well  as  against  the  expediency  of  forced 
conversions,  which  could  not,  in  the  nature  of 
things,  be  lasting.     But  the  pertinacious  prelate 

natural  skepticism  as  to  the  pre-  scripts  belonging  to.  an  individual 
tended  amount  and  value  of  the  which  he  saw  in  Algiers,  whithei 
works  destroyed.  they  had  been  secretly  brought  by 
*3  The  learned  Granadine,  Leo  the  Moriscoes  from  Spain.-— Con- 
Africanus,  who  emigrated  to  Fez  de,  Dominacion  de  los  Arabes,  pro- 
after  the  fall  of  the  capital,  notices  logo.  —  Casiri,  Bibliotheca  Escu- 
a  single  collection  of  3000  manu-  rialensis,  torn.  i.  p.  172. 


416 


XIMENES. 


part  only  replied,  that,  "  A  tamer  policy  might,  indeed, 
- — - —  suit  temporal  matters,  but  not  those  in  which  the 
interests  of  the  soul  were  at  stake  ;  that  the  unbe- 
liever, if  he  could  not  be  drawn,  should  be  driven, 
into  the  way  of  salvation ;  and  that  it  was  no  time 
to  stay  the  hand,  when  the  ruins  of  Mahometanism 
were  tottering  to  their  foundations."  He  accord- 
ingly went  on  with  unflinching  resolution.26 

But  the  patience  of  the  Moors  themselves,  which 
had  held  out  so  marvellously  under  this  system  of 
oppression,  began  now  to  be  exhausted.  Many 
signs  of  this  might  be  discerned  by  much  less  acute 
optics  than  those  of  the  archbishop  ;  but  his  were 
blinded  by  the  arrogance  of  success.  At  length,  in 
this  inflammable  state  of  public  feeling,  an  incident 
occurred  which  led  to  a  general  explosion. 
Revcitefthe      Three  of  Ximenes's  servants  were  sent  on  some 

Albayctn. 

business  to  the  Albaycin,  a  quarter  inhabited  exclu- 
sively by  Moors,  and  encompassed  by  walls,  which 
separated  it  from  the  rest  of  the  city.27  These 
men  had  made  themselves  peculiarly  odious  to  the 
people  by  their  activity  in  their  master's  service. 
A  dispute,  having  arisen  between  them  and  some 
inhabitants  of  the  quarter,  came  at  last  to  blows, 
when  two  of  the  servants  were  massacred  on  the 
spot,  and  their  comrade  escaped  wTith  difficulty  from 
the  infuriated  mob.28    The  affair  operated  as  the 

26  Gomez,  De  "Rebus  Gestis,  fol.  28  Gomez,  De  Rebus  Gestis,  fol. 
30.  —  Abarca,  Reyes  de  Aragon,  31. 

rey  30,  cap.  10.  There  are  some  discrepancies, 

27  Casiri,  Bibliotheca  Escuria-  not  important  however,  between 
lcnsis,  torn.  ii.  p.  281.  —  Pedraza,  the  narrative  of  Gomez  and  the 
Antiguedad  de  Granada,  lib.  3,  other  authorities.  Gomez,  consid- 
cap.  10.  ering  his  uncommon  opportunities 


PERSECUTIONS  IN  GRANADA. 


417 


signal  for  insurrection.    The  inhabitants  of  the  dis-  chapter 

trict  ran  to  arms,  got  possession  of  the  gates,  barri-  - —  

caded  the  streets,  and  in  a  few  hours  the  whole 
Albajcin  was  in  rebellion.29 

In  the  course  of  the  following  night,  a  large  ximenea  be* 

©         o      »  C      sieged  tn  hi* 

number  of  the  enraged  populace  made  their  way  pulact"' 
into  the  city  to  the  quarters  of  Ximenes,  with  the 
purpose  of  taking  summary  vengeance  on  his  head 
for  all  his  persecutions.  Fortunately,  his  palace  was 
strong,  and  defended  by  numerous  resolute  and 
well-armed  attendants.  The  latter,  at  the  approach 
of  the  rioters,  implored  their  master  to  make  his 
escape,  if  possible,  to  the  fortress  of  the  Alharnbra, 
where  the  count  of  Tendilla  was  established.  But 
the  intrepid  prelate,  who  held  life  too  cheap  to  be 
a  coward,  exclaimed,  "  God  forbid  I  should  think 
of  my  own  safety,  when  so  many  of  the  faithful  are 
perilling  theirs !  No,  I  will  stand  to  my  post  and 
wait  there,  if  Heaven  wills  it,  the  crown  of  martyr- 
dom."30   It  must  be  confessed  he  well  deserved  it. 

The  building,  however,  proved  too  strong  for  the 
utmost  efforts  of  the  mob ;  and,  at  length,  after 
some  hours  of  awful  suspense  and  agitation  to  the 
beleaguered  inmates,  the  count  of  Tendilla  arrived 
in  person  at  the  head  of  his  guards,  and  succeed- 
ed in  dispersing  the  insurgents,  and  driving  them 
back  to  their  own  quarters.    But  no  exertions  could 

of  information,  is  worth  them  all.  30  Robles,  Vida  deXimenez,cap. 

29  Suma  de  la  Vida  de  Cisneros,  14.  —  Mariana,  Hist,  de  Espafia, 

MS. —  Gomez,  De  Rehus  Gestis,  torn.  ii.  lib.  27,  cap.  5.  —  Quinta- 

lib.  2,  fol.  31.  —  Marmol,  Rebe-  nilla,  Archetypo,  p.  56.— Peter 

lion  de  Moriscos,  lib.  1,  cap.  26.  Martyr,  Opus  Epist.,  epist.  212. 


VOL.  II. 


53 


418  XIMENES. 

part     restore  order  to  the  tumultuous  populace,  or  induce 

  them  to  listen  to  terms ;  and  they  even  stoned  the 

messenger  charged  with  pacific  proposals  from  the 
count  of  Tendilla.  They  organized  themselves 
under  leaders,  provided  arms,  and  took  every  pos- 
sible means  for  maintaining  their  defence.  It 
seemed  as  if,  smitten  with  the  recollections  of  an- 
cient liberty,  they  were  resolved  to  recover  it  again 
at  all  hazards.31 
SSmSJT  At.  length,  after  this  disorderly  state  of  things 
TaiTivtr!^  had  lasted  for  several  days,  Talavera,  the  arch- 
bishop of  Granada,  resolved  to  try  the  effect  of  his 
personal  influence,  hitherto  so  great  with  the 
Moors,  by  visiting  himself  the  disaffected  quarter. 
This  noble  purpose  he  put  in  execution,  in  spite  of 
the  most  earnest  remonstrances  of  his  friends.  He 
was  attended  only  by  his  chaplain,  bearing  the  cru- 
cifix before  him,  and  a  few  of  his  domestics,  on  foot 
and  unarmed  like  himself.  At  the  sight  of  their 
venerable  pastor,  with  his  countenance  beaming 
with  the  same  serene  and  benign  expression,  with 
which  they  were  familiar  when  listening  to  his 
exhortations  from  the  pulpit,  the  passions  of  the 
multitude  were  stilled.  Every  one  seemed  willing 
to  abandon  himself  to  the  tender  recollections  of 
the  past;  and  the  simple  people  crowded  around 
the  good  man,  kneeling  down  and  kissing  the  hem 
of  his  robe,  as  if  to  implore  his  benediction.  The 
count  of  Tendilla  no  sooner  learned  the  issue,  than 
he  followed  into  the  Albaycin,  attended  by  a  hand- 

31  Mariana.  Hist,  de  EspaHa,    cap.  23.  —  Mendoza,  Guerra  de 
ubi  sup.  —  Bleda,  Coronica,  lib.  5,    Granada,  p.  11. 


PERSECUTIONS  IN  GRANADA. 


419 


ful  of  soldiers.    When  he  had  reached  the  place  chapter 

VI 

where  the  mob  was  gathered,  he  threw  his  bonnet  ■ — 

into  the  midst  of  them,  in  token  of  his  pacific  in- 
tentions. The  action  was  received  with  acclama- 
tions, and  the  people,  whose  feelings  had  now 
taken  another  direction,  recalled  by  his  presence 
to  the  recollection  of  his  unifoimly  mild  and  equi 
table  rule,  treated  him  with  similar  respect  to  that 
shown  the  archbishop  of  Granada.32 

These  two  individuals  took  advantage  of  this 
favorable  change  of  feeling  to  expostulate  with  the 
Moors  on  the  folly  and  desperation  of  their  con- 
duct, which  must  involve  them  in  a  struggle  with 
such  overwhelming  odds  as  that  of  the  whole 
Spanish  monarchy.  They  implored  them  to  lay 
down  their  arms  and  return  to  their  duty,  in  which 
event  they  pledged  themselves,  as  far  as  in  their 
power,  to  allow  no  further  repetition  of  the  griev- 
ances complained  of,  and  to  intercede  for  their  par- 
don with  the  sovereigns.  The  count  testified  his 
sincerity,  by  leaving  his  wife  and  two  children  as 
hostages  in  the  heart  of  the  Albaycin  ;  an  act 
which  must  be  admitted  to  imply  unbounded  con- 
fidence in  the  integrity  of  the  Moors.33  These 
various  measures,  backed,  moreover,  by  the  coun- 
sels and  authority  of  some  of  the  chief  alfaquis, 

32  Marmol,  Rebelion  de  Moriscos,  fied,  may  be  inferred  from  a  corn- 
lib.  1,  cap.  26.  —  Peter  Martyr,  mon  saying  of  Archbishop  Tala- 
Opus  Epist.,  epist.  212.  —  Quin-  vera,  "That  Moorish  works  and 
tanilla,  Archetypo,  p.  56.  —  Bleda,  Spanish  faith  were  all  that  were 
Coronica,  ubi  supra.  wanting  to  make  a  good  Chris- 

33  Marmol,  Rebelion  de  Moriscos,  tian."  A  bitter  sarcasm  this  on  his 
loc.  cit.  —  Mendoza,  Guerra  de  own  countrymen  !  Pedraza,  An- 
Granada,  lib.  1,  p.  11.  tisruedad  de  Granada,  lib.  3,  cap. 

That  such  corfidence  was  justi-  10. 


4/20 


XIMENES. 


PART 
II. 


Displeasure 
of  the  sove- 


Ximenes 
hastens  to 
court. 


had  the  effect  to  restore  tranquillity  among  the  pen- 
pie,  who,  laying  aside  their  hostile  preparations, 
returned  once  more  to  their  regular  employments.  " 

The  rumor  of  the  insurrection,  in  the  mean 
while,  with  the  usual  exaggeration,  reached  Seville, 
where  the  court  was  then  residing.  In  one  respect 
rumor  did  justice,  by  imputing  the  whole  blame  of 
the  affair  to  the  intemperate  zeal  of  Ximenes. 
That  personage,  with  his  usual  promptness,  had 
sent  early  notice  of  the  affair  to  the  queen  by  a  ne- 
gro slave  uncommonly  fleet  of  foot.  But  the  fel- 
low had  become  intoxicated  by  the  way,  and  the 
court  were  several  days  without  any  more  authentic 
tidings  than  general  report.  The  king,  who  always 
regarded  Ximenes's  elevation  to  the  primacy,  to  the 
prejudice,  as  the  reader  may  remember,  of  his  own 
son,  with  dissatisfaction,  could  not  now  restrain  his 
indignation,  but  was  heard  to  exclaim  tauntingly  to 
the  queen,  "  So  we  are  like  to  pay  dear  for  your 
archbishop,  whose  rashness  has  lost  us  in  a  few 
hours,  what  we  have  been  years  in  acquiring." 35 

The  queen,  confounded  at  the  tidings,  and  un- 
able to  comprehend  the  silence  of  Ximenes,  instant- 
ly wrote  to  him  in  the  severest  terms,  demanding 
an  explanation  of  the  whole  proceeding.  The  arch- 
bishop saw  his  error  in  committing  affairs  of  mo- 
ment to  such  hands  as  those  of  his  sable  messenger; 
and  the  lesson  stood  him  in  good  stead,  according 


34  Peter  Martyr,  Opus  Epist., 
epist.  212. —  Bleda,  Coronica,  loc. 
cit.  —  Marmol,  Rebelion  de  Moris- 
cos,  ubi  supra. 


35  Mariana,  Hist.  d6  Espafia, 
torn,  ii.  lib.  27,  cap.  5.  —  Robles, 
Vida  de  Ximenez,  14.  —  Suma  dp 
la  Vida  de  Cisneios,  MS. 


PERSECUTIONS  IN  GRANADA. 


421 


to  his  moralizing  biographer,  for  the  remainder  of  chapter 

his  life. 36    He  hastened  to  repair  his  fault  by  pro-   ■ — 

ceeding  to  Seville  in  person,  and  presenting  himself 
before  the  sovereigns.  He  detailed  to  them  the 
history  of  all  the  past  transactions;  recapitulated  his 
manifold  services,  the  arguments  and  exhortations 
he  had  used,  the  large  sums  he  had  expended,  and 
his  various  expedients,  in  short,  for  effecting  con- 
version, before  resorting  to  severity.  He  boldly 
assumed  the  responsibility  of  the  whole  proceeding, 
acknowledging  that  he  had  purposely  avoided  com- 
municating his  plans  to  the  sovereigns  for  fear  of 
opposition.  If  he  had  erred,  he  said,  it  could  be 
imputed  to  no  other  motive,  at  worst,  than  too  great 
zeal  for  the  interests  of  religion  ;  but  he  concluded 
with  assuring  them,  that  the  present  position  of 
affairs  was  the  best  possible  for  their  purposes,  since 
the  late  conduct  of  the  Moors  involved  them  in  the 
guilt,  and  consequently  all  the  penalties  of  treason, 
and  that  it  would  be  an  act  of  clemencj-  to  offer 
pardon  on  the  alternatives  of  conversion  or  exile  ! 37 

The  archbishop's  discourse,  if  we  are  to  credit  converse 

1  >  of  Granada. 

his  enthusiastic  biographer,  not  only  dispelled  the 
clouds  of  royal  indignation,  but  drew  forth  the  most 
emphatic  expressions  of  approbation. 38  How  far 
Ferdinand  and  Isabella  were  moved  to  this  by  his 
final  recommendation,  or  what,  in  clerical  language, 
may  be  called  the  "  improvement  of  his  discourse," 

98  Gomez,  De  Rebus  Gestis,  fol.  38  Gomez,  De  Rebus  Gestis,  fol. 
32.  — Robles,  Vida  de  Ximenez,  33.—  Suma  de  la  Vida  de  Cisne- 
cap.  14.  ros,  MS. 

37  Gomez  De  Rebus  Gestis,  ubi 
supra. 


422 


XIMENES. 


part  does  not  appear.  They  did  not  at  any  rate  adopt 
.  .  "'  .  it  in  its  literal  extent.  In  due  time,  however, 
commissioners  were  sent  to  Granada,  fully  author- 
ized to  inquire  into  the  late  disturbances  and  pun- 
ish their  guilty  authors.  In  the  course  of  the 
investigation,  many,  including  some  of  the  princi- 
pal citizens,  were  imprisoned  on  suspicion.  The 
greater  part  made  their  peace  by  embracing  Chris- 
tianity. Many  others  sold  their  estates  and  migrat- 
ed to  Barbary ;  and  the  remainder  of  the  population 
whether  from  fear  of  punishment,  or  contagion  of 
example,  abjured  their  ancient  superstition  and 
consented  to  receive  baptism.  The  whole  number 
of  converts  was  estimated  at  about  fifty  thousand, 
whose  future  relapses  promised  an  almost  inex- 
haustible supply  for  the  fiery  labors  of  the  Inquisi- 
tion. From  this  period  the  name  of  Moors,  which 
had  gradually  superseded  the  primitive  one  of 
Spanish  Arabs,  gave  way  to  the  title  of  Moriscoes, 
by  which  this  unfortunate  people  continued  to  be 
known  through  the  remainder  of  their  protracted 
existence  in  the  Peninsula.89 
Applauded       The  circumstances,  under  which  this  important 

by  the  Span  7  1 

iards.  revolution  in  religion  was  effected  in  the  whole 
population  of  this  great  city,  will  excite  only  feel- 
ings of  disgust  at  the  present  day,  mingled,  indeed, 


39  Bleda,  Coroniea,  lib.  5,  cap. 
23.  —  Mariana,  Hist,  de  Espaila, 
torn.  ii.  lib.  27,  cap.  5.  —  Peter 
Martyr,  Opus  Epist.,  epist.  215. — 
Marmol,  Rebelion  de  Moriscos,  lib. 
I,  cap.  27.  —  Gomez,  De  Rebus 
Gestis,  lib.  2,  fol.  32.  —  Lanuza, 


Historias,  torn.  i.  lib.  1,  cap.  11. 

—  Carbajal,  An  ales,  MS.,  afio  1500. 

—  Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catolicos,  MS., 
cap.  159.  —  The  last  author  car- 
ries the  number  of  converts  in 
Granada  and  its  environs  to  70.000. 


PERSECUTIONS  IN  GRANADA. 


423 


with  compassion  for  the  unhappy  beings,  who  so  chapter 

heedlessly  incurred  the  heavy  liabilities  attached  to   —  

their  new  faith.  Every  Spaniaid,  doubtless,  antici- 
pated the  political  advantages  likely  to  result  from 
a  measure,  which,  divested  the  Moors  of  the  peculiar 
immunities  secured  by  the  treaty  of  capitulation, 
and  subjected  them  at  once  to  the  law  of  the  land. 
It  is  equally  certain,  however,  that  they  attached 
great  value  in  a  spiritual  view  to  the  mere  show  of 
conversion,  placing  implicit  confidence  in  the  puri- 
fying influence  of  the  waters  of  baptism,  to  whom- 
ever and  under  whatever  circumstances  adminis- 
tered. Even  the  philosophic  Martyr,  as  little  tinc- 
tured with  bigotry  as  any  of  the  time,  testifies  his 
joy  at  the  conversion,  on  the  ground,  that,  although 
it  might  not  penetrate  beneath  the  crust  of  infideli- 
ty, which  had  formed  over  the  mind  of  the  older 
and  of  course  inveterate  Mussulman,  yet  it  would 
have  full  effect  on  his  posterity,  subjected  from  the 
cradle  to  the  searching  operation  of  Christian  disci- 
pline.40 

With  regard  to  Ximenes,  the  real  author  of  the 
work,  whatever  doubts  were  entertained  of  his  dis- 
cretion, in  the  outset,  they  were  completely  dis- 
pelled by  the  results.    All  concurred  in  admiring 

40  "  Tu  vero  inquies,"  he  says,  que  noya  superveniente  disciplina, 

in  a  letter  to  the  cardinal  of  Santa  juvenum  saltern  et  infantum  atqr.e 

Cruz,  "  hisdem  in  suum  Mahome-  eo  tutius  nepotum,  inanibus  illis 

tern  vivent  animis,  atque  id  jure  superstitionibus  abrasis,  novis  im- 

merito  suspieandum  est.    Durum  buentur  ritibus.  De  senescentibus, 

namque  majorum  instituta  relin-  qui  callosis   animis  induruerunt, 

quere  ;  attamen  ego  existimo,  con-  haud  ego  quidem  id  futurum  infi- 

sultum  optime  fuisse  ipsorum  ad-  cior."    Opus  Epist.,  epist.  215. — 

mittere  postulata  :  paulatim  nam-  Also, Carta  de  Gonzalo,  MS. 


424 


XIMENES. 


part     the  invincible  energy  of  the  man,  who,  in  the  face 

_L        of  such  mighty  obstacles,  had  so  speedily  effected 

this  momentous  revolution  in  the  faith  of  a  people, 
bred  from  childhood  in  the  deadliest  hostility  to 
Christianity ; 41  and  the  good  archbishop  Talavera 
was  heard  in  the  fulness  of  his  heart  to  exclaim, 
that  "  Ximenes  had  achieved  greater  triumphs  than 
even  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  ;  since  they  had  con- 
quered only  the  soil,  while  he  had  gained  the  souls 
of  Granada  !  »  42 


41  "  Magnas  deinceps,"  says  Go- 
mez, "  apud  omnes  venerationi 
Ximenius  esse  cospit.  —  Porrd  plus 
mentis  acie  videre  quam  solent 
homines  credebatur,  quod  re  anci- 
piti,  neque  plane  confirmata,  bar- 
bara  civitate  adhuc  suum  Mahume- 
tum  spirante,  tanta  animi  conten- 
tione,  ut  Christi  doctrinam  amplec- 
terentur,  laboraverat  et  effecerat.1' 
(De  Rebus  Gestis,  fol.  33.)  The 
panegyric  of  the  Spaniard  is  en- 
dorsed by  Flechier,  (Histoire  de 
Ximenes,  p.  119.)  who,  in  the  age 
of  Louis  XIV.,  displays  all  the 
bigotry  of  that  of  Ferdinand  and 
Isabella. 

42  Talavera,  as  I  have  already 
noticed,  had  caused  the  offices, 
catechisms,  and  other  religious  ex- 
ercises to  be  translated  into  Arabic 
for  the  use  of  the  converts;  pro- 
posing to  ex*end  the  translation  at 
some  future  time  to  the  great  body 
of  the  Scriptures.  That  time  had 
now  arrived,  but  Ximenes  vehe- 
mently remonstrated  against  the 
measure.  "  It  would  be  throwing 
pearls  before  swine/'  said  he,  "  to 
open  the  Scriptures  to  persons  in 
their  low  state  of  ignorance,  who 
could  not  fail,  as  St.  Paul  says,  to 
wrest  them  to  their  own  destruc- 
tion.   The  word  of  God  should  be 


wrapped  in  discreet  mystery  from 
the  vulgar,  who  feel  little  rever- 
ence for  what  is  plain  and  obvious. 
It  was  for  this  reason,  that  our 
Saviour  himself  clothed  his  doc- 
trines in  parables,  when  he  ad*- 
dressed  the  people.  The  Scrip- 
tures should  be  confined  to  the 
three  ancient  languages,  which 
God  with  mystic  import  permitted 
to  be  inscribed  over  the  head  of  his 
crucified  Son  ;  and  the  vernacular 
should  be  reserved  for  such  devo- 
tional and  moral  treatises,  as  holy 
men  indite,  in  order  to  quicken  the 
soul,  and  turn  it  from  the  pursuit 
of  worldly  vanities  to  heavenly  con- 
templation." De  Rebus  Gestis, 
fol.  32,  33. 

The  narrowest  opinion,  as  usual, 
prevailed,  and  Talavera  abandoned 
his  wise  and  benevolent  purpose. 
The  sagacious  arguments  of  the  pri- 
mate lead  his  biographer,  Gomez, 
to  conclude,  that  he  had  a  prophetic 
knowledge  of  the  coming  heresy 
of  Luther,  which  owed  so  much  of 
its  success  to  the  vernacular  ver- 
sions of  the  Scriptures ;  in  which 
probable  opinion  he  is  faithfully 
echoed,  as  usual,  by  the  good 
bishop  of  Nismes.  Flechier,  Hist 
de  Ximenes,  pp.  117-  119. 


CHAPTER  VII. 


RISING  EN  THE  ALPUXARRAS.  —  DEATH  OF  AI.ONSO  DE 
AGIJILAR.  —  EDICT  AGAINST  THE  MOORS. 

1500—1502. 

Rising  in  the  Alpuxarras.  —  Expedition  to  the  Sierra  Vermeja. — 
Alonso  de  Aguilar. —  His  noble  Character,  and  Death. — Bloody 
Rout  of  the  Spaniards.  —  Final  Submission  to  Ferdinand.  —  Cruel 
Policy  of  the  Victors. — Commemorative  Ballads.  —  Edict  against  the 
Moors.  —  Causes  of  Intolerance.  — Last  Notice  of  the  Moors  under 
the  present  Reign. 

While  affairs  went  forward  so  triumphantly  in  chapter 
the  capital  of  Granada,  they  excited  general  dis-        L  . 
content  in  other  parts  of  that  kingdom,  especially  ™en£!pu 
the  wild  regions  of  the  Alpuxarras.    This  range  of. 
maritime  Alps,  which  stretches  to  the  distance  of 
seventeen  leagues  in  a  southeasterly  direction  from 
the  Moorish  capital,  sending  out  its  sierras  like  so 
many  broad  arms  towards  the  Mediterranean,  was 
thickly  sprinkled  with  Moorish  villages,  cresting  the 
bald  summits  of  the  mountains,  or  chequering  the 
green  slopes  and  valleys  which  lay  between  them. 
Its  simple  inhabitants,  locked  up  within  the  lonely 
recesses  of  their  hills,  and  accustomed  to  a  life  of 
penury  and  toil,  had  escaped  the  corruptions,  as 
well  as  refinements,  of  civilization.     In  ancient 
times  they  had  afforded  a  hardy  militia  for  the 

vol.  n  54 


426 


RISING  IN  THE  ALPUXARRAS 


part     princes  of  Granada ;  and  they  now  exhibited  an 

 unshaken  attachment  to  their  ancient  institutions 

and  religion,  which  had  been  somewhat  effaced  in 
the  great  cities  by  more  intimate  intercourse  with 
the  Europeans.1 
Moorf°fthe  These  warlike  mountaineers  beheld  with  gath- 
ering resentment  the  faithless  conduct  pursued 
towards  their  countrymen,  which,  they  had  good 
reason  to  fear,  would  soon  be  extended  to  them- 
selves ;  and  their  fiery  passions  were  inflamed  to 
an  ungovernable  height  by  the  public  apostasy  of 
Granada.  They  at  length  resolved  to  anticipate 
any  similar  attempt  on  themselves  by  a  general 
insurrection.  They  accordingly  seized  on  the  for- 
tresses and  strong  passes  throughout  the  country, 
and  began  as  usual  with  forays  into  the  lands  of 
the  Christians. 

These  bold  acts  excited  much  alarm  in  the 
capital,  and  the  count  of  Tendilla  took  vigorous 
measures  for  quenching  the  rebellion  in  its  birth. 
Gonsalvo  de  Cordova,  his  early  pupil,  but  who 
might  now  well  be  his  master  in  the  art  of  war, 
was  at  that  time  residing  in  Granada ;  and  Ten- 
dilla availed  himself  of  his  assistance  to  enforce  a 
hasty  muster  of  levies,  and  march  at  once  against 
the  enemy. 

1  Alpuxarras,—  an  Arabic  word,         "La  Alpuxan-a,  aquessa  sierra 

signifying  «  land  of  warriors,"  ac-  MaSKST 
cording    to  fealazar  de   Mendoza.  es  Mar  de  peiias,  y  plants*, 

(Monarquia,  torn.  ii.  p.  138.)    Ac-  adondesus  poblacione* 

cording  to  the  more  accurate  and  ondas  navegan  de  p!ata" 

learned  Conde,  it  is  derived  from       Calderon,  (Comcdias,  (Madrid 
an  Arabic  term  for  "pasturage."    1760,)  torn.  i.  p.  353,)  whose  ffor- 
(El  Nubiense,  Descripcion  de  Es-    geous  muse  sheds  a  blaze  of  glory 
pafia,  p.  187.)  over  the  rudest  scenes. 


DEATH  OF  ALONSO  DE  AGUILAR. 


427 


His  first  movement  was  against  Huejar,  a  forti-  chapter 
fied  town  situated  in  one  of  the  eastern  ranges  of  —  IL 
the  Alpuxarras,  whose  inhabitants  had  taken  the  !S. 
lead  in  the  insurrection.  The  enterprise  was  at- 
tended with  more  difficulty  than  was  expected. 
"  God's  enemies,"  to  borrow  the  charitable  epithet  of 
the  Castilian  chroniclers,  had  ploughed  up  the  lands 
in  the  neighbourhood  ;  and,  as  the  light  cavalry 
of  the  Spaniards  was  working  its  way  through  the 
deep  furrows,  the  Moors  oponed  the  canals  which 
intersected  the  fields,  and  in  a  moment  the  horses 
were  floundering  up  to  their  girths  in  the  mire  and 
water.  Thus  embarrassed  in  their  progress,  the 
Spaniards  presented  a  fatal  mark  to  the  Moorish 
missiles,  which  rained  on  them  with  pitiless  fury  ; 
and  it  was  not  without  great  efforts  and  consid- 
erable loss,  that  they  gained  a  firm  landing  on  the 
opposite  side.  Undismayed,  however,  they  then 
charged  the  enemy  with  such  vivacity,  as  com- 
pelled him  to  give  way  and  taKe  refuge  within  the 
defences  of  the  town. 

No  impediment  could  now  check  the  ardor  of 
the  assailants.  Thej'  threw  themselves  from  their 
horses,  and  bringing  forward  the  scaling-ladders, 
planted  them  against  the  walls.  Gonsalvo  was  the 
first  to  gain  the  summit ;  and,  as  a  powerful  Moor 
endeavoured  to  thrust  him  from  the  topmost  round 
of  the  ladder,  he  grasped  the  battlements  firmly 
with  his  left  hand  and  dealt  the  infidel  such  a  blow 
with  the  sword  in  his  right,  as  brought  him  head- 
long to  the  ground.  He  then  leapt  into  the  place, 
and  was  speedily  followed  by  his  troops.  The 


/ 


428  RISING  IN  THE  ALPUXARRAS. 

part     enemy  made  a  brief  and  ineffectual  resistance. 
— - —  The  greater  part  were  put  to  the  sword ;  the 
remainder,  including   the  women   and  children, 
were  made  slaves,  and  the  town  was  delivered 
up  to  pillage.2 

Ferdinand        The  severity  of  this  military  execution  had  not  • 

marches  into  J  ^ 

in :  moiin-  tne  effect  of  intimidating  the  insurgents  ;  and  the 
revolt  wore  so  serious  an  aspect,  that  King  Fer- 
dinand found  it  necessary  to  take  the  field  in 
person,  which  he  did  at  the  head  of  as  complete 
and  beautiful  a  body  of  Castilian  chivalry  as  ever 
graced  the  campaigns  of  Granada. 3  Quitting 
Alhendin,  the  place  of  rendezvous,  in  the  latter 
end  of  February,  1 500,  he  directed  his  march  on 
Lanjaron,  one  of  the  towns  most  active  in  the 
revolt,  and  perched  high  among  the  inaccessible 
fastnesses  of  the  sierra,  southeast  of  Granada. 

The  inhabitants,  trusting  to  the  natural  strength 
of  a  situation,  which  had  once  baffled  the  arms  of 
the  bold  Moorish  chief  El  Zagal,  took  no  precau- 
tions to  secure  the  passes.  Ferdinand,  relying  on 
this,  avoided  the  more  direct  avenue  to  the  place  ; 
and,  bringing  his  me*n  by  a  circuitous  route  over 
dangerous  ravines,  and  dark  and  dizzy  precipices, 
where  the  foot  of  the  hunter  had  seldom  ventured, 
succeeded  at  length,  after  incredible  toil  and  hazard, 

8  Marmol,  Rebelion  de  Moriscos,  8  If  we  are  to  believe  Martyr, 

torn.  i.  lib.  1,  cap.  28.  —  Quintana,  the  royal  force  amounted  to  80,000 

Espailoles  Celebres,  torn.  i.  p.  239.  foot  and  15,000  horse ;  so  large  an 

—  Bleda,  Coronica,  lib.  5,  cap.  23.  army,  so  promptly  brought  into  the 

—  Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catolicos,  field,  would  suggest  high  ideas  of 
MS.,  cap.  159.  —  Abarca,  Reyes  the  resources  of  the  nation;  too 
de  Aragon,  torn.  ii.  fol.  338. —  high  indeed  to  gain  credit,  even 
Mendoza,  Guerra  de  Granada,  p.  from  Martyr,  without  confirmation. 


DEATH  OF  ALONSO  DE  AGUILAR. 


429 


in  reaching  an  elevated  point,  which  entirely  com-  ciiafter 

.  VII. 

manded  the  Moorish  fortress.  „   ■ — 

Great  was  the  dismay  of  the  insurgents  at  the  came*  iaU 

J  °  jaroiu 

apparition  of  the  Christian  banners,  streaming  in 
triumph  in  the  upper  air,  from  the  very  pinnacles  of 
the  sierra.  They  stoutly  persisted,  however,  in  the 
refusal  to  surrender.  But  their  works  were  too 
feeble  to  stand  the  assault  of  men,  who  had  van- 
quished the  more  formidable  obstacles  of  nature  ; 
and,  after  a  short  struggle,  the  place  was  carried  by  1500. 

'  .  \  .  J       March  8. 

storm,  and  its  wretched  inmates  experienced  the 
same  dreadful  fate  with  those  of  Huejar. 4 

At  nearly  the  same  time,  the  count  of  Lerin  took  Punishment 

J  1  of  the  rebels. 

several  other  fortified  places  in  the  Alpuxarras,  in 
one  of  which  he  blew  up  a  mosque  filled  with  wo- 
men and  children.  Hostilities  were  carried  on  with 
all  the  ferocity  of  a  civil,  or  rather  servile  war ; 
and  the  Spaniards,  repudiating  all  the  feelings  of 
courtesy  and  generosity,  which  they  had  once  shown 
to  the  same  men,  when  dealing  with  them  as  hon- 
orable enemies,  now  regarded  them  only  as  rebel- 
lious vassals,  or  indeed  slaves,  whom  the  public 
safety  required  to  be  not  merely  chastised,  but 
exterminated. 

These  severities,  added  to  the  conviction  of  their 
own  impotence,  at  length  broke  the  spirit  of  the 
Moors,  who  were  reduced  to  the  most  humble  con- 
cessions ;  and  the  Catholic  king,  "  unwilling  out 
of  his  great  clemency,"  says  Abarca,  "  to  stain  his 

4  Peter  Martyr,  Opus  Epist.,    Anales,  torn.  v.  lib.  3,  cap.  45. —> 
epist.   215. — Abarca,   Reyes  de    Carbajal,  Anales,  MS.,  ano  1500. 
Aragon,  torn.  ii.  fol.  338.  —  Zurita, 


430 


RISING  IN  THE  ALPUXARRAS. 


part     sword  with  the  blood  of  all  these  wild  beasts  of  the 

-    11  Alpuxarras,"  consented  to  terms,  which  may  be 

deemed  reasonable,  at  least  in  comparison  with  his 
previous  policy.  These  were,  the  surrender  of  their 
arms  and  fortresses,  and  the  payment  of  the  round 
sum  of  fifty  thousand  ducats. 5 

As  soon  as  tranquillity  was  reestablished,  meas- 
ures were  taken  for  securing  it  permanently,  by 
introducing  Christianity  among  the  natives,  without 
which  they  never  could  remain  well  affected  to  their 
present  government.  Holy  men  were  therefore 
sent  as  missionaries,  to  admonish  them,  calmly  and 
without  violence,  of  their  errors,  and  to  instruct 
them  in  the  great  truths  of  revelation.  6  Various 
immunities  were  also  proposed,  as  an  additional  in- 
centive to  conversion,  including  an  entire  exemption 
to  the  party  from  the  payment  of  his  share  of  the 
heavy  mulct  lately  imposed. 7  The  wisdom  of  these 
temperate  measures  became  every  day  more  visible 
in  the  conversion,  not  merely  of  the  simple  moun- 
taineers, but  of  nearly  all  the  population  of  the  great 
cities  of  Baza,  Guadix,  and  Almeria,  who  consent- 
ed before  the  end  of  the  year  to  abjure  their  ancient 
religion,  and  receive  baptism. 8 

This  defection,  however,  caused  great  scandal 
among  the  more  sturdy  of  their  countrymen,  and  a 

5  Marmol,  Rebelion  de  Moriscos,  ?  Privilegios  a  los  Moros  de  Val- 
lib.  1,  cap.  28.  —  Abarca,  Reyes  delecrin  y  las  Alpuxarras  que  se 
de  Aragon,  torn.  ii.  fol.  338.  —  Ber-  convirtieren,  a  30  de  Julio  de  1500. 
naldez,  Reyes  Calolicos,  MS.,  cap.  Archivo  de  Simancas,  apud  Mem. 
159.— Bleda,  Coronica,  lib.  5,  cap.  de  la  Acad,  de  Hist.,  torn.  vi. 
24.  apend.  14. 

6  Bleda,  Coronica,  lib.  5,  cap.  8  Carbajal,  Anales,  MS.,  ailo 
24.  —  Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catolicos,  1500. — Garibay,  Compendio,  torn. 
MS.,  cap.  165.  h.  lib.  19,  cap.  10. 


DEATH  OF  ALONSO  DE  AGUILAR. 


451 


new  insurrection  broke  out  on  the  eastern  confines  chaptek 

vii 

of  the  Alpuxarras,  which  was  suppressed  with  sim-  

ilar  circumstances  of  stern  severity,  and  a  similar  ^w0, 
exaction  of  a  heavy  sum   of  money ;  —  money, 
whose  doubtful  efficacy  may  be  discerned,  some- 
times in  staying,  but  more  frequently  in  stimulating, 
the  arm  of  persecution.9 

But  while  the  murmurs  of  rebellion  died  away  in  Revoitoftne 

J  Sierra  Ver- 

the  east,  they  were  heard  in  thunders  from  the  dis-  meja 
tant  hills  on  the  western  borders  of  Granada.  This 
district,  comprehending  the  sierras  Vermeja  and 
Villa  Luenga,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Ronda,  was 
peopled  by  a  warlike  race,  among  whom  was  the 
African  tribe  of  Gandules,  whose  blood  boiled  with 
the  same  tropical  fervor  as  that  which  glowed  in 
the  veins  of  their  ancestors.  They  had  early  shown 
symptoms  of  discontent  at  the  late  proceedings  in 
the  capital.  The  duchess  of  Arcos,  widow  of  the 
great  marquis  duke  of  Cadiz,  whose  estates  lay  in 
that  quarter, 10  used  her  personal  exertions  to  ap- 
pease them ;  and  the  government  made  the  most 
earnest  assurances  of  its  intention  to  respect  what- 
ever had  been  guarantied  by  the  treaty  of  capitula- 
tion. 11  But  they  had  learned  to  place  little  trust 
in  princes  ;  and  the  rapidly  extending  apostasy  of 

9  Carbajal,  Anales,  MS.,  auo  11  See  two  letters  dated  Seville, 
1501. — Zurita,  Anales,  torn.  v.  lib.  January  and  February,  1500,  ad- 
4,  cap.  27,  31.  dressed  by  Ferdinand  and  Isabella 

10  The  great  marquis  of  Cadiz  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  Serrania 
was  third  count  of  Arcos,  from  de  Ronda,  preserved  in  the  archives 
which  his  descendants  took  their  of  Simancas,  apud  Mem.  de  la 
title  on  the  resumption  of  Cadiz  by  Acad,  de  Hist.,  torn.  vi.  llust.  15. 
the  crown  after  his  death.  Men- 

doza,  Dignidades,  lib.  3,  cap.  8, 
17. 


432 


RISING  IN  THE  ALPUXARRAS. 


part  their  countrymen  exasperated  them  to  such  a  d<  - 
_ —  gree,  that  they  at  length  broke  out  to  the  QHfet 
atrocious  acts  of  violence  ;  murdering  the  Christian 
missionaries,  and  kidnapping,  if  report  be  true, 
many  Spaniards  of  both  sexes,  whom  they  sold  as 
slaves  in  Africa.  They  were  accused,  with  far 
more  probability,  of  entering  into  a  secret  corre- 
spondence with  their  brethren  on  the  opposite  shore, 
in  order  to  secure  their  support  in  the  meditated 
revolt.  12 

Rp^e^oua      The  government  displayed  its  usual  promptness 
and  energy  on  this  occasion.    Orders  were  issued 


12  Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catolicos, 
MS.,  cap.  165.  —  Bleda,  Coronica, 
lib.  5,  cap.  25.  —  Peter  Martyr, 
Ojuis  Epist.,  epist.  221. 

The  complaints  of  the  Spanish 
ar.d  African  Moors  to  the  Sultan  of 
Egypt,  or  of  Babylon,  as  he  was 
then  usually  styled,  had  drawn  from 
that  prince  sharp  remonstrances  to 
the  Catholic  sovereigns  against 
their  persecutions  of  the  Moslems, 
accompanied  by  menaces  of  strict 
retaliation  on  the  Christians  in  his 
dominions.  In  order  to  avert  such 
calamitous  consequences,  Peter 
Martyr  was  sent  as  ambassador  to 
Egypt.  He  left  Granada  in  Au- 
gust, 1501,  proceeded  to  Venice, 
and  embarked  there  for  Alexandria, 
which  place  he  reached  in  Decem- 
ber. Though  cautioned  on  his  arriv- 
al, that  his  mission,  in  the  present 
exasperated  state  of  feeling  at  the 
court,  might  cost  him  his  head,  the 
dauntless  envoy  sailed  up  the  Nile 
under  a  Mameluke  guard  to  Grand 
Cairo.  Far  from  experiencing  any 
outrage,  however,  he  was  cour- 
teously received  by  the  Sultan  ; 
although  the  ambassador  declined 
compromising  the  dignity  of  the 
court  he  represented,  by  paying  the 


usual  humiliating  mark  of  obei- 
sance, in  prostrating  himself  on  the 
ground  in  the  royal  presence  ;  an 
independent  bearing  highly  satis- 
factory to  the  Castilian  historians. 
(See  Garibay,  Compendio.  torn.  ii. 
lib.  19,  cap.  12.)  He  had  three 
audiences,  in  which  he  succeeded 
so  completely  in  effacing  the  unfa- 
vorable impressions  of  the  Moslem 
prince,  that  the  latter  not  only  dis- 
missed him  with  liberal  presents, 
but  granted,  at  his  request,  several 
important  privileges  to  the  Chris- 
tian residents,  and  the  pilgrims  to 
the  Holy  Land,  which  lay  within 
his  dominions.  Martyr's  account 
of  this  interesting  visit,  which  gave 
him  ample  opportunity  for  studying 
the  manners  of  a  nation,  and  see- 
ing the  stupendous  monuments  of 
ancient  art,  then  little  familiar  to 
Europeans,  was  published  in  Latin, 
under  the  title  of  "  De  Legatione 
Babylonica,"  in  three  books,  ap- 
pended to  his  more  celebrated 
"  Decades  de  Rebus  Ocean icis  et 
Novo  Orbe."  Mazzuchelli,  (Scrit- 
tori  d'  Italia,  voce  Anghiera,)  noti- 
ces an  edition  which  he  had  seen 
published  separately,  without  date 
or  name  of  the  printer. 


DEATH  OF  ALONSO  DE  AGUILAR. 


433 


to  the  principal  chiefs  and  cities  of  Andalusia,  to  chapter 

•  •  VII 

.muster  their  forces  with  all  possible  despatch,  and   .  

concentrate  them  on  Ronda.  The  summons  was 
obeyed  with  such  alacrity,  that,  in  the  course  of  a 
very  few  weeks,  the  streets  of  that  busy  city  were 
thronged  with  a  shining  array  of  warriors  drawn 
from  all  the  principal  towns  of  Andalusia.  Seville 
sent  three  hundred  horse  and  two  thousand  foot. 
The  principal  leaders  of  the  expedition  were  the 
count  of  Cifuentes,  who,  as  assistant  of  Seville,  com- 
manded the  troops  of  that  city;  the  count  of  Urena, 
and  Alonso  de  Aguilar,  elder  brother  of  the  Great 
Captain,  and  distinguished  like  him  for  the  highest 
qualities  of  mind  and  person. 

It  was  determined  by  the  chiefs  to  strike  at  once  Expedition 

J  into  the 

into  the  heart  of  the  Sierra  Vermeja,  or  Red  Sierra,  8iernu 
as  it  was  called  from  the  color  of  its  rocks,  rising  to 
the  east  of  Ronda,  and  the  principal  theatre  of  in- 
surrection. On  the  18th  of  March,  1501,  the  little 
army  encamped  before  Monarda,  on  the  skirts  of  a 
mountain,  where  the  Moors  were  understood  to 
have  assembled  in  considerable  force.  They  had 
not  been  long  in  these  quarters  before  parties  of  the 
enemy  were  seen  hovering  along  the  slopes  of  the 
mountain,  from  which  the  Christian  camp  was  di- 
vided by  a  narrow  river,  —  the  Rio  Verde,  probably, 
which  has  gained  such  mournful  celebrity  in  Span- 
ish song.13   Aguilar's  troops,  who  occupied  the  van, 

13     Rio  Verde,  Rio  Verde,  river,"  from  the  awkwardness,  he 

Tinto  va  en  sangre  viva ; "  —  savS)  0f  t}ie  literal  translation  of 

Peicy,  in  his  well-known  version  "verdant  river."     He  was  not 

of  one  of  these  agreeable  romances,  aware,  it  appears,  that  the  Spanish 

adopts  the  tame  epithet  of  "  gentle  was  a  proper  name.   (See  Reliques 

VOL.   II.  55 


434 


RISING  IN  THE  ALPUXARR AS. 


tart     were  so  much  roused  by  the  sight  of  the  eneYny, 

.  that  a  small  party,  seizing  a  banner,  rushed  across 

the  stream  without  orders,  in  pursuit  of  them. 
The  odds,  however,  were  so  great,  that  they  would 
have  been  severely  handled,  had  not  Aguilar,  while 
he  bitterly  condemned  their  temerity,  advanced 
promptly  to  their  support  with  the  remainder  of  his 
corps.  The  count  of  Urena  followed  with  the  cen- 
tral division,  leaving  the  count  of  Cifuentes  with 
the  troops  of  Seville  to  protect  the  camp. 14 
The  Moor?       The  Moors  fell  back  as  the  Christians  advanced, 

retreat  up  7 

!Lei™°un"  and,  retreating  nimbly  from  point  to  point,  led  them 
up  the  rugged  steeps  far  into  the  recesses  of  the 
mountains.  At  length  they  reached  an  open  level, 
encompassed  on  all  sides  by  a  natural  rampart  of 
rocks,  where  they  had  deposited  their  valuable 
effects,  together  with  their  wives  and  children. 
The  latter,  at  sight  of  the  invaders,  uttered  dismal 
cries,  and  fled  into  the  remoter  depths  of  the  sierra. 

The  Christians  were  too  much  attracted  by  the 
rich  spoil  before  them  to  think  of  following,  and 
dispersed  in  every  direction  in  quest  of  plunder, 
with  all  the  heedlessness  and  insubordination  of 


of  Ancient  English  Poetry,  (Lon- 
don, 1812,)  vol.  i.  p.  357.)  The 
more  faithful  version  of  "  green 
river,"  however,  would  have  noth- 
ing very  un poetical  in  it ;  though 
our  gifted  countryman,  Bryant, 
seems  to  intimate,  by  his  omission, 
somewhat  of  a  similar  difficulty,  in 
his  agreeable  stanzas  on  the  beau- 
tiful stream  of  that  name  in  New 
England. 

l*  Zuiliga,  Annales  de  Sevilla, 


afio  1501.  —  Abarca,  Reyes  de 
Aragon,  torn.  ii.  p.  340.  —  131eda, 
Coronica,  lib.  5,  cap.  26.  —  Bcr- 
naldez,  Reyes  Catolicos,  MS.,  cap. 
105. 

"  Fue  muy  gentil  capitan,"  says 
Oviedo,  speaking  of  this  latter 
nobleman,  "  y  valiente  lanza  ;  y 
muchas  vezes  dio  teslimonio  grande 
de  su  animoso  esfuerzo."  Quin- 
cuagenas,  MS.,  bat.  1,  quinc.  1, 
dial.  36. 


DEATH  OF  ALONSO  DE  AGUILAR. 


435 


raw,  inexperienced  levies.  It  was  in  vain,  that  chapter 
Alonso  de  Aguilar  reminded  them,  that  their  wily  — — 
enemy  was  still  unconquered  ;  or  that  he  endeav- 
oured to  force  them  into  the  ranks  again,  and 
restore  order.  No  one  heeded  his  call,  or  thought 
of  any  thing  beyond  the  present  moment,  and  of 
securing  as  much  booty  to  himself  as  he  could 
carry. 

The  Moors,  in  the  mean  while,  finding  them-  °« 

1  7  B  the  Span . 

selves  no  longer  pursued,  were  aware  of  the  occu-  larfls 
pation  of  the  Christians,  whom  they  not  improbably 
had  purposely  decoyed  into  the  snare.  They 
resolved  to  return  to  the  scene  of  action,  and  sur- 
prise their  incautious  enemy.  Stealthily  advan- 
cing, therefore,  under  the  shadows  of  night,  now 
falling  thick  around,  they  poured  through  the  rocky 
defiles  of  the  inclosure  upon  the  astonished  Span- 
iards. An  unlucky  explosion,  at  this  crisis,  of  a 
cask  of  powder,  into  which  a  spark  had  acciden- 
tally fallen,  threw  a  broad  glare  over  the  scene,  and 
revealed  for  a  moment  the  situation  of  the  hostile 
parties  ;  —  the  Spaniards  in  the  utmost  disorder, 
many  of  them  without  arms,  and  staggering  under 
the  weight  of  their  fatal  booty ;  while  their  ene- 
mies were  seen  gliding  like  so  many  demons  of 
darkness  through  every  crevice  and  avenue  of  the 
inclosure,  in  the  act  of  springing  on  their  devoted 
victims.  This  appalling  spectacle,  vanishing  almost 
as  soon  as  seen,  and  followed  by  the  hideous  yells 
and  war-cries  of  the  assailants,  struck  a  panic  into 
the  hearts  of  the  soldiers,  who  fled,  scarcely  offer- 
ing any  resistance.    The  darkness  of  the  night 


436  RISING  IN  THE  ALPUXARRAS. 

part  was  as  favorable  to  the  Moors,  familiar  with  all  the 
. — 1 —  intricacies  of  the  ground,  as  it  was  fatal  to  the 
Christians,  who,  bewildered  in  the  mazes  of  the 
sierra,  and  losing  their  footing  at  every  step,  fell 
under  the  swords  of  their  pursuers,  or  went  down 
the  dark  gulfs  and  precipices  which  yawned  all 
around.15 

Aionsode        Amidst  this  dreadful  confusion,  the  count  of 

Agiular.  7 

Urena  succeeded  in  gaining  a  lower  level  of  the 
sierra,  where  he  halted  and  endeavoured  to  rally 
his  panic-struck  followers.  His  noble  comrade, 
Alonso  de  Aguilar,  still  maintained  his  position  on 
the  heights  above,  refusing  all  entreaties  of  his 
followers  to  attempt  a  retreat.  "  When,"  said  he 
proudly,  "  was  the  banner  of  Aguilar  ever  known 
to  fly  from  the  field  ?  "  His  eldest  son,  the  heir 
of  his  house  and  honors,  Don  Pedro  de  Cordova,  a 
youth  of  great  promise,  fought  at  his  side.  He 
had  received  a  severe  wound  on  the  head  from  a 
stone,  and  a  javelin  had  pierced  quite  through  his 
leg.  With  one  knee  resting  on  the  ground,  how- 
ever, he  still  made  a  brave  defence  with  his  sword. 
The  sight  was  too  much  for  the  father,  and  he 
implored  him  to  suffer  himself  to  be  removed  from 
the  field.  "  Let  not  the  hopes  of  our  house  be 
crushed  at  a  single  blow,"  said  he;  "  go,  my  son, 
live  as  becomes  a  Christian  knight,  —  live,  and 
cherish  your  desolate  mother."    All  his  entreaties 

15  Abarca,  Reyes  de  Aragon,  10.  —  Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catolieos, 
torn  ii.  fol.  340.— Zurita,  Anales,  MS.,  cap.  165.  —  Marmol,  Rebel- 
torn,  v.  lib.  4,  cap.  33.  —  Garibay,  ion  de  Moriscos,  lib.  1.  cap.  28. 
Compendio,  torn.  ii.  lib.  19,  cap. 


DEATH  OF  ALONSO  DE  AGUILAR. 


437 


were  fruitless,  however  ;  and  the  gallant  boy  re-  chapter 
fused  to  leave  his  father's  side,  till  he  was  forcibly  _._VIL 
borne  away  by  the  attendants,  who  fortunately 
succeeded  in  bringing  him  in  safety  to  the  station 
occupied  by  the  count  of  Urena.16 

Meantime  the  brave  little  band  of  cavaliers,  who  msga\ 

lantry  and 

remained  true  to  Aguilar,  had  fallen  one  after  an-  dtuth 
other  ;  and  the  chief,  left  almost  alone,  retreated  to 
a  huge  rock  which  rose  in  the  middle  of  the  plain, 
and  placing  his  back  against  it,  still  made  fight, 
though  weakened  by  loss  of  blood,  like  a  lion  at 
bay,  against  his  enemies.17  In  this  situation  he 
was  pressed  so  hard  by  a  Moor  of  uncommon  size 
and  strength,  that  he  was  compelled  to  turn  and 
close  with  him  in  single  combat.  The  strife  was 
long  and  desperate,  till  Don  Alonso,  whose  corselet 
had  become  unlaced  in  the  previous  struggle,  hav- 
ing received  a  severe  wound  in  the  breast,  followed 
by  another  on  the  head,  grappled  closely  with  his 
adversary,  and  they  came  rolling  on  the  ground 
together.  The  Moor  remained  uppermost ;  but 
the  spirit  of  the  Spanish  cavalier  had  not  sunk 
with  his  strength,  and  he  proudly  exclaimed,  as  if 
to  intimidate  his  enemy,  "  I  am  Don  Alonso  de 
Aguilar ; "  to  which  the  other  rejoined,  "  And 
I  am  the  Feri  de  Ben  Estepar,"  a  well-known 
name  of  terror  to  the  Christians.    The  sound  of 

!6  Mendoza,  Guerra  de  Granada,  quis  of  Priego  by  the  Catholic 

p.  13.  —  Abarca,  Reyes  de  Ara-  sovereigns.    Salazar  de  Mendoza, 

gon,  torn.  2,  fol.  340.  —  Marmol,  Dignidades,  lib.  2,  cap.  13. 
Rebelion  de  Moriscos,  lib.  1,  cap.       n  It  is  the  simile  of  the  fine  old 

28.  — Oviedo,  Quincuagenas,  MS.,  ballad  ; 

bat.  1,  quinc.  1,  dial.  36.  "  Solo  quedaDon  Alonso 

Theboy,  who  lived  to  man's  88-  SSBK 
tate,  was  afterwards  created  mar-  Pero  poco  aprovechaba." 


438 


RISIxXG  IN  THE  ALPUX  ARRAS. 


PART 
II. 


1501. 

March  18. 

His  noble 
character 


this  detested  name  roused  all  the  vengeance  of  the 
dying  hero ;  and,  grasping  his  foe  in  mortal  agony, 
he  rallied  his  strength  for  a  final  blow  ;  but  it 
was  too  late,  —  his  hand  failed,  and  he  was  soon 
despatched  by  the  dagger  of  his  more  vigorous 
rival. 18 

Thus  fell  Alonso  Hernandez  de  Cordova,  or 
Alonso  de  Aguilar,  as  he  is  commonly  called  from 
the  land  where  his  family  estates  lay.19  "  He  was 
of  the  greatest  authority  among  the  grandees  of 
his  time,"  says  father  Abarca,  "  for  his  lineage, 
personal  character,  large  domains,  and  the  high 
posts  which  he  filled,  both  in  peace  and  war. 
More  than  forty  years  of  his  life  he  served  against 
the  infidel,  under  the  banner  of  his  house  in  boy- 
hood, and  as  leader  of  that  same  banner  in  later 
life,  or  as  viceroy  of  Andalusia  and  commander  of 
the  royal  armies.    He  was  the  fifth  lord  of  his 


18  Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catolicos, 
MS.,  ubi  supra. —  Abarca,  Reyes 
de  Aragon,  torn,  ii.  ubi  supra. — 
Garibay,  Compendio,  torn.  ii.  lib. 
19,  cap.  10.  —  Mendoza,  Guerra  de 
Granada,  p.  13. —  Sandoval,  Hist, 
del  Einp.  Carlos  V.,  torn.  i.  p.  5. 

According  to  Hyta's  prose,  Agui- 
lar had  first  despatched  more  than 
thirty  Moors  with  his  own  hand. 
(Guerras  de  Granada,  part.  i.  p. 
568.)  The  ballad,  with  more  dis- 
cretion, does  not  vouch  for  any  par- 
ticular number. 

"Don  Alonso  en  este  tiempo 
Mny  gran  batalla  hacia, 
El  cavallo  le  havian  inuerto, 
For  mnralla  le  tenia. 

Y  arriniado  a  mi  gran  penon 
Con  valor  se  defendia  : 
Muclios  Moros  tiene  muertos, 
Pero  poco  le  valia. 

Porque  sobre  el  cargan  muchos, 

Y  le  dan  grandes  heridas, 
Tantas  que  ca>6  alii  nuierto 
Entre  la  gente  enenhga." 


The  warrior's  death  is  summed 
up  with  an  artless  brevity,  that 
would  be  affectation  in  more  stud- 
ied composition. 

"Muerto  queda  Don  Alonso, 
Y  eterna  lama  ganada." 

19  Paolo  Giovio  finds  an  etymol- 
ogy for  the  name  in  the  eagle 
(agaila),  assumed  as  the  device  of 
the  warlike  ancestors  of  Don  Alon- 
so. St.  Ferdinand  of  Castile,  in 
consideration  of  the  services  of  this 
illustrious  house  at  the  taking  of 
Cordova,  in  1236,  allowed  it  to  bear 
as  a  cognomen  the  name  of  that 
city.  This  branch,  however,  still 
continued  to  be  distinguished  by 
their  territorial  epithet  of  Aguilar  ; 
although  Don  Alonso's  brother, 
the  Great  Captain,  as  we  have 
seen,  was  more  generally  known 
by  that  of  Cordova.  Vita  Magni 
Gonsalvi,  fol.  204. 


DLATH  OF  ALOJNSO  DE  AGUILAR. 


warlike  and  pious  house,  who  had  fallen  fighting  chapter 

for  their  country  and  religion  against  the  accursed   —■ 

sect  of  Mahomet.  And  there  is  good  reason  to 
believe,"  continues  the  same  orthodox  authority, 
"that  his  soul  has  received  the  glorious  reward  of 
the  Christian  soldier;  since  he  was  armed  on  that 
very  morning  with  the  blessed  sacraments  of  con- 
fession and  communion."20 

The  victorious  Moors,  all  this  time,  were  driving  moody  rout 

7  7  O    of  the  Spau- 

the  unresisting  Spaniards,  like  so  many  terrified  iards 
deer,  down  the  dark  steeps  of  the  sierra.  The 
count  of  Urena,  who  had  seen  his  son  stretched 
by  his  side,  and  received  a  severe  wound  himself, 
made  the  most  desperate  efforts  to  rally  the  fugi- 
tives, but  was  at  length  swept  away  by  the  torrent. 
Trusting  himself  to  a  faithful  adalid,  who  knew 
the  passes,  he  succeeded  with  much  difficulty  in 
reaching  the  foot  of  the  mountain,  with  such  a 
small  remnant  of  his  followers  as  could  keep  in 
his  track.21  Fortunately,  he  there  found  the  count 
of  Cifuentes,  wrho  had  crossed  the  river  with  the 


20  Reyes  de  Aragon,tom.  ii.  fol. 
340,  341. 

The  hero's  body,  left  on  the  field 
of  battle,  was  treated  with  decent 
respect  by  the  Moors,  who  restored 
it  to  King-  Ferdinand  ;  and  the  sove- 
reigns caused  it  to  be  interred 
with  all  suitable  pomp  in  the  church 
of  St.  Hypolito  at  Cordova.  Many 
years  afterwards  the  marchioness 
of  Priego,  his  descendant,  had  the 
tomb  opened  ;  and,  on  examining 
the  mouldering  remains,  the  iron 
head  of  a  lance,  received  in  his  last 
mortal  struggle,  was  found  buried 
in  the  bones.  Bleda,  Coronica, 
lib.  5,  cap.  26. 


21  "  Tambien  el  Conde  de  Urena, 
Mai  herido  en  demasia, 
Se  sale  de  la  batalla 
Llevado  por  una  guia. 

"Que  sabia  bien  la  senda 
Que  de  la  Sierra  salia  : 
Muchos  Morosde\aba  muertos 
Por  su  grande  valentia. 

"  Tambien  algunos  se  escapan, 
Que  al  buen  Conde  le  seguian." 

Oviedo,  speaking  of  this  retreat  of 
the  good  count  and  his  followers, 
says,  "  Volvieron  las  riendas  a  sus 
caballos,  y  se  retiraron  a  mas  que 
galope  por  la  multitud  de  los  Infi- 
eies."  Quincuagenas,  MS.,  bat. 
1,  quinc.  1,  dial.  36. 


440 


RISING  IN  THE  ALPUXARRAS. 


part  rear-guard,  and  encamped  on  a  rising  ground  in  the 
 —  neighbourhood.  Under  favor  of  this  strong  posi- 
tion, the  latter  commander  and  his  brave  Sevil- 
Hans,  all  fresh  for  action,  were  enabled  to  cover  the 
shattered  remains  of  the  Spaniards,  and  beat  off  the 
assaults  of  their  enemies  till  the  break  of  morn, 
when  they  vanished  like  so  many  foul  birds  of  night 
into  the  recesses  of  the  mountains. 

The  rising  day,  which  dispersed  their  foes,  now 
revealed  to  the  Christians  the  dreadful  extent  of 
their  own  losses.  Few  were  to  be  seen  of  all  that 
proud  array,  which  had  marched  up  the  heights  so 
confidently  under  the  banners  of  their  ill-fated 
chiefs  the  preceding  evening.  The  bloody  roll  of 
slaughter,  besides  the  common  file,  was  graced  with 
the  names  of  the  best  and  bravest  of  the  Christian 
knighthood.  Among  the  number  was  Francisco 
Ramirez  de  Madrid,  the  distinguished  engineer, 
who  had  contributed  so  essentially  to  the  success 
of  the  Granadine  war. 22 
S»e  nauom  The  sad  tidings  of  the  defeat  soon  spread  through- 
out the  country,  occasioning  a  sensation  such  as 
had  not  been  felt  since  the  tragic  affair  of  the  Axar- 
quia.  Men  could  scarcely  credit,  that  so  much 
mischief  could  be  inflicted  by  an  outcast  race,  who, 
whatever  terror  they  once  inspired,  had  long  since 
been  regarded  with  indifference  or  contempt. 
Every  Spaniard  seemed  to  consider  himself  in  some 

■  Znnigft,  Annales  de  Sevilla,  nas,  MS.,  bat.  1,  quinc  1,  dial.  36. 

afiol501.  —  Carbajal,  Anales,  MS.  For  a  more  particular  notice  of 

ailo  1501.  — Bleda,  Coronica,  lib.  Ramirez,  see  Part  1.  Chapter  19, 

5,  cap.  26.  —  Oviedo,  Quincuage-  of  this  History. 


DEATH  OF  ALONSO  DE  AGUILAR. 


441 


way  or  other  involved  in  the  disgrace  ;  and  the  most  chapter 


VII. 


spirited  exertions  were  made  on  all  sides  to  retrieve 
it.  By  the  beginning  of  April,  King  Ferdinand 
found  himself  at  Ronda,  at  the  head  of  a  strong 
body  of  troops,  which  he  determined  to  lead  in 
person,  notwithstanding  the  remonstrances  of  his 
courtiers,  into  the  heart  of  the  Sierra,  and  take 
bloody  vengeance  on  the  rebels. 

These  latter,  however,  far  from  being  encourag-  The  rebels 

°  &      submit  to 

ed,  were  appalled  by  the  extent  of  their  own  sue-  Ferdinand 
cess ;  and,  as  the  note  of  warlike  preparation 
reached  them  in  their  fastnesses,  they  felt  their 
temerity  in  thus  bringing  the  whole  weight  of  the 
Castilian  monarchy  on  their  heads.  They  accord- 
ingly abandoned  all  thoughts  of  further  resistance, 
and  lost  no  time  in  sending  deputies  to  the  king's 
camp,  to  deprecate  his  anger,  and  sue  in  the  most 
submissive  terms  for  pardon. 

Ferdinand,  though  far  from  vindictive,  was  less  Banishment 
open  to  pity  than  the  queen ;  and,  in  the  present 
instance  he  indulged  in  a  full  measure  of  the  indig- 
nation, with  which  sovereigns,  naturally  identifying 
themselves  with  the  state,  are  wont  to  regard  rebel- 
lion, by  viewing  it  in  the  aggravated  light  of  a  per- 
sonal offence.  After  some  hesitation,  however,  his 
prudence  got  the  better  of  his  passions,  as  he  re- 
flected that  he  was  in  a  situation  to  dictate  the 
terms  of  victory,  without  paying  the  usual  price  for 
it.  His  past  experience  seems  to  have  convinced 
him  of  the  hopelessness  of  infusing  sentiments  of 
loyalty  in  a  Mussulman  towards  a  Christian  prince  , 
for,  while  he  granted  a  general  amnesty  to  those 

vol.  n.  56 


or  conver- 
sion. 


442 


RISING  IN  THE  ALPUXARRAS. 


part     concerned  in  the  insurrection,  it  was  only  on  the 

 !       alternative  of  baptism  or  exile,  engaging  at  the 

same  time  to  provide  conveyance  for  such  as  chose 
to  leave  the  country,  on  the  payment  of  ten  doblas 
of  gold  a  head. 23 

These  engagements  were  punctually  fulfilled 
The  Moorish  emigrants  were  transported  in  public 
galleys  from  Estepona  to  the  Barbary  coast.  The 
number,  however,  was  probably  small ;  by  far  the 
greater  part  being  obliged,  however  reluctantly, 
from  want  of  funds,  to  remain  and  be  baptized. 
44  They  would  never  have  stayed,"  says  Bleda,  "  if 
they  could  have  mustered  the  ten  doblas  of  gold  ;  a 
circumstance,"  continues  that  charitable  writer, 
u  which  shows  with  what  levity  they  received  bap- 
tism, and  for  what  paltry  considerations  they  could 
be  guilty  of  such  sacrilegious  hypocrisy  !  "  24 
commemo-      But,  although  every  spark  of  insurrection  was 

native  bal-  °  . 

thus  effectually  extinguished,  it  was  long,  very  long, 
before  the  Spanish  nation  could  recover  from  the 
blow,  or  forget  the  sad  story  of  its  disaster  in  the 
Red  Sierra.  It  became  the  theme,  not  only  of 
chronicle,  but  of  song  ;  the  note  of  sorrow  was  pro- 
longed in  many  a  plaintive  romance,  and  the  names 
of  Aguilar  and  his  unfortunate  companions  were 
embalmed  in  that  beautiful  minstrelsy,  scarcely  less 
imperishable,  and  far  more  touching,  than  the  State- 
s'3 Bleda,  Coronica,  lib.  5,  cap.  2<»  Coronica,  lib.  5,  cap.  27. 
2G,  27.  —  Robles,  Vida  de  Xime-  The  Curate  of  Los  Palacios  dis- 
nez,  cap.  16.  —  Bernaldez,  Reyes  poses  of  the  Moors  rather  summa- 
Catolicos,  MS.,  cap.  105.  —  Ma-  rily ;  "The  Christians  stripped 
riana,  Hist,  de  Espafia,  lib.  27,  cap.  them,  gave  them  a  free  passage, 
5.  —  Marmol,  Rebelion  de  Moris-  and  sent  them  to  the  devil !"  Reyes 
cos,  lib.  1]  cap.  28.  Catolicos,  cap.  1C5. 


DEATH  OF  ALONSO  DE  AGUILAR. 


443 


VII. 


Iy  and  elaborate  records  of  history. 25  The  popular  chapter 
feeling  was  displayed  after  another  fashion  in  regard 
to  the  count  of  Urena  and  his  followers,  who  were 
accused  of  deserting  their  posts  in  the  hour  of  peril; 
and  more  than  one  ballad  of  the  time  reproachfully 
demanded  an  account  from  him  of  the  brave  com- 
panions in  arms  whom  he  had  left  in  the  Sierra. 26 

The  imputation  on  this  gallant  nobleman  appears 
wholly  undeserved  ;  for  certainly  he  was  not  called 
on  to  throw  away  his  own  life  and  those  of  his 
brave  followers,  in  a  cause  perfectly  desperate,  for 
a  chimerical  point  of  honor.  And,  so  far  from  for- 
feiting the  favor  of  his  sovereigns  by  his  conduct  on 
this  occasion,  he  was  maintained  by  them  in  the 


SB  According-  to  one  of  the  ro- 
mances, cited  by  Hyta,  the  expedi- 
tion of  Aguilar  was  a  piece  of  ro- 
mantic Quixotism,  occasioned  by 
King  Ferdinand's  challenging  the 
bravest  of  his  knights  to  plant  his 
banner  on  the  summits  of  the  Al- 
puxarras. 

"  Qual  de  vosotros,  amigos, 
Ira  a  la  Sierra  maiiana, 
A  poner  mi  Real  pendon 
Encima  de  la  Alpuxarra  ? M 

All  shrunk  from  the  perilous  em- 
prise, till  Alonso  de  Aguilar  step- 
ped forward  and  boldly  assumed  it 
for  himself. 

'  A  todos  tiembla  la  barba, 
Sino  fuera  don  Alonso, 
Que  de  Aguilar  se  llamaba. 
Levant  »se  en  pie  ante  el  Rey 
De  esta  manera  le  habla. 

"  Aquesa  empresa,  Seiior, 
Para  mi  estaba  guardada, 
Que  mi  senora  la  reyna 
Ya  me  la  tiene  mandada. 

"  Alegnise  mucho  el  Rey 
Por  la  oferta  que  le  daba, 
Ann  no  era  amanecido 
Don  Alonso  ya  cavalga." 

These  popular  ditties,  it  cannot  be 
denied,  are  slippery  authorities  for 
any  important  fact,  unless  support- 


ed by  more  direct  historic  testimo- 
ny. When  composed,  however,  by 
contemporaries,  or  those  who  lived 
near  the  time,  they  may  very  natu- 
rally record  many  true  details,  too 
insignificant  in  their  consequences 
to  attract  the  notice  of  history. 
The  ballad  translated  with  so  much 
elaborate  simplicity  by  Percy,  is 
chiefly  taken  up,  as  the  English 
reader  may  remember,  with  the 
exploits  of  a  Sevillian  hero  named 
Saavedra.  No  such  personage  is 
noticed,  as  far  as  I  am  aware,  by 
the  Spanish  chroniclers.  The  name 
of  Saavedra,  however,  appears  to 
have  been  a  familiar  one  in  Seville, 
and  occurs  two  or  three  times  in  the 
muster-roll  of  nobles  and  cavaliers 
of  that  city,  who  joined  King  Fer- 
dinand's army  in  the  preceding 
year,  1500.  Zufiiga,  Annales  de 
Sevilla,  eodem  anno. 

96  Mendoza  notices  these  splenet- 
ic effusions  (Guerra  de  Granada, 
p.  13)  ;  and  Bleda  (Coronica,  p. 
030,)  cites  the  following  couplet 
from  one  of  them. 

u  Decid,  conde  de  Urena, 
Don  Aloiso  donde  queda." 


444  RISING  IN  THE  ALPUXARRAS. 

part     same  high  stations,  which  he  before  held,  and 
11  —  which  he  continued  to  fill  with  dignity  to  a  good 
old  age.27 

Melancholy       Jt  was  about  seventy  years  after  this  event,  in 

renuniscen-  J    J  1 

1570,  that  the  duke  of  Arcos,  descended  from  the 
great  marquis  of  Cadiz,  and  from  this  same  count 
of  Ureiia,  led  an  expedition  into  the  Sierra  Vermeja, 
in  order  to  suppress  a  similar  insurrection  of  the 
Moriscoes.  Among  the  party  were  many  of  the 
descendants  and  kinsmen  of  those  who  had  fought 
under  Aguilar.  It  was  the  first  time  since,  that 
these  rude  passes  had  been  trodden  by  Christian 
feet;  but  the  traditions  of  early  childhood  had  made 
every  inch  of  ground  familiar  to  the  soldiers.  Some 
way  up  the  eminence,  they  recognised  the  point  at 
which  the  count  of  Urena  had  made  his  stand ;  and 
further  still,  the  fatal  plain,  belted  round  with  its 
dark  rampart  of  rocks,  where  the  strife  had  been 
hottest.  Scattered  fragments  of  arms  and  harness 
still  lay  rusting  on  the  ground,  which  was  covered 
with  the  bones  of  the  warriors,  that  had  lain  for 
more  than  half  a  century  unburied  and  bleaching  in 
the  sun.28    Here  was  the  spot  on  which  the  brave 


27  The  Venetian  ambassador, 
Navagiero,  saw  the  count  of  Urena 
at  Ossuna,  in  1526.  He  was  en- 
joying a  green  old  age,  or,  as  the 
minister  expresses  it,  "  molto  vec- 
chio  e  gentil  corteggiano  perd." 
"  Diseases."  said  the  veteran  good- 
humoredly,  "  sometimes  visit  me, 
but  seldom  tarry  long  ;  for  my  body 
is  like  a  crazy  old  inn,  where  trav- 
ellers find  such  poor  fare,  that  they 
merely  touch  and  go."  Viaggio, 
fol.  17. 


28  Guerra  de  Granada,  p.  301. 
—  Compare  the  similar  painting  of 
Tacitus,  in  the  scene  where  Ger- 
manicus  pays  the  last  sad  offices  to 
the  remains  of  Varus  and  his  le- 
gions. "  Dein  semiruto  vallo,  hu- 
mili  fossa,  accisae  jam  reliquiae 
consedisse  intelligebantur  :  medio 
campi  albentia  ossa,  ut  fugerant, 
ut  restiterant,  disjecta  vel  aggera- 
ta  ;  adjacebant  fragmina  telorum, 
equorumque  artus,  simul  truncis 
arborum  antefixa  ora."  (Annales 


DEATH  OF  ALONSO  DE  AGUILAR. 


445 


son  of  Aguilar  had  fought  so  sturdily  by  his  father's  chapter 
side  ;  and  there  the  huge  rock,  at  whose  foot  the  — — — 
chieftain  had  fallen,  throwing  its  dark  shadow  over 
the  remains  of  the  noble  dead,  who  lay  sleeping 
around.  The  strongly  marked  features  of  the 
ground  called  up  all  the  circumstances,  which  the 
soldiers  had  gathered  from  tradition  ;  their  hearts 
beat  high,  as  they  recapitulated  them  one  to  another; 
and  the  tears,  says  the  eloquent  historian  who  tells 
the  story,  fell  fast  down  their  iron  cheeks,  as  they 
gazed  on  the  sad  relics,  and  offered  up  a  soldier's 
prayer  for  the  heroic  souls  which  once  animated 
them.29 

Tranquillity  was  now  restored  throughout  the 
wide  borders  of  Granada.  The  banner  of  the  Cross 
floated  triumphantly  over  the  whole  extent  of  its 
w  ild  sierras,  its  broad  valleys,  and  populous  cities. 
Every  Moor,  in  exterior  at  least,  had  become  a 
Christian.  Every  mosque  had  been  converted  into 
a  Christian  church.  Still  the  country  was  not  en- 
tirely purified  from  the  stain  of  Islamism,  since 
many  professing  their  ancient  faith  were  scattered 
over  different  parts  of  the  kingdom  of  Castile,  where 


lib.  1,  sect.  61.)  Mendoza  falls 
nothing  short  of  this  celebrated  de- 
scription of  the  Roman  historian  ; 

"  Pan  etiam  Arcadia,  dicat  se  judice  victum." 

29  Mendoza,  Guerra  de  Granada, 
pp.  300  -  302. 

The  Moorish  insurrection  of  1570 
was  attended  with  at  least  one 
good  result,  in  calling  forth  this 
historic  masterpiece,  the  work  of 
the  accomplished  Diego  Hurtado 
de  Mendoza,  accomplished  alike  as 


a  statesman,  warrior,  and  historian. 
His  "Guerra  de  Granada,"  confined 
as  it  is  to  a  barren  fragment  of 
Moorish  history,  displays  such  lib- 
eral sentiments,  (too  liberal,  in- 
deed, to  permit  its  publication  till 
long  after  its  author's  death,)  pro- 
found reflection,  and  classic  ele- 
gance of  style,  as  well  entitle  him 
to  the  appellation  of  the  Spanish 
Sallust. 


446  RISING  IN  THE  ALPUXARRAS. 

part  they  had  been  long  resident  before  the  surrender  of 
11  their  capital.  The  late  events  seemed  to  have  no 
other  effect  than  to  harden  them  in  error  ;  and  the 
Spanish  government  saw  with  alarm  the  pernicious 
influence  of  their  example  and  persuasion,  in  shak- 
ing the  infirm  faith  of  the  new  converts. 
Edict  To  obviate  this,  an  ordinance  was  published,  in 

apninst  the  9  1 

SSL!*  tnc  summer  of  1501,  prohibiting  all  intercourse  be- 
tween these  Moors  and  the  orthodox  kingdom  of 
Granada.30  At  length,  however,  convinced  that 
there  was  no  other  way  to  save  the  precious  seed 
from  being  choked  by  the  thorns  of  infidelity,  than 
to  eradicate  them  altogether,  the  sovereigns  came 
to  the  extraordinary  resolution  of  offering  them  the 
alternative  of  baptism  or  exile.  They  issued  a 
pragmdtica  to  that  effect  from  Seville,  February 
12th,  1502.  After  a  preamble,  duly  setting  forth 
the  obligations  of  gratitude  on  the  Castilians  to 
drive  God's  enemies  from  the  land,  which  he  in  his 
good  time  had  delivered  into  their  hands,  and  the 
numerous  backslidings  occasioned  among  the  new 
converts  by  their  intercourse  with  their  unbaptized 
brethren,  the  act  goes  on  to  state,  in  much  the 
same  terms  with  the  famous  ordinance  against  the 
Jews,  that  all  the  unbaptized  Moors  in  the  king- 
doms of  Castile  and  Leon,  above  fourteen  years  of 
age  if  males,  and  twelve  if  females,  must  leave  the 
country  by  the  end  of  April  following  ;  that  they 
might  sell  their  property  in  the  mean  time,  and 
take  the  proceeds  in  any  thing  save  gold  and  silver 


30  Pragmaticas  del  Reyno,  fol.  6. 


DKATH  OF  ALONSO  DE  AGUILAR. 


447 


and  merchandise  regularly  prohibited  ;  and,  finally,  chapter 
that  they  might  emigrate  to  any  foreign  country,  — 
except  the  dominions  of  the  Grand  Turk,  and  such 
parts  of  Africa  as  Spain  was  then  at  war  with. 
Obedience  to  these  severe  provisions  was  enforced 
by  the  penalties  of  death  and  confiscation  of  prop- 
erty.31 

This  stern  edict,  so  closely  modelled  on  that 
against  the  Jews,  must  have  been  even  more  griev- 
ous in  its  application.32  For  the  Jews  may  be  said 
to  have  been  denizens  almost  equally  of  every 
country ;  while  the  Moors,  excluded  from  a  retreat 
among  their  countrymen  on  the  African  shore,  were 
sent  into  the  lands  of  enemies  or  strangers.  The 
former,  moreover,  were  far  better  qualified  by  their 
natural  shrewdness  and  commercial  habits  for  dis- 
posing of  their  property  advantageously,  than  the 
simple,  inexperienced  Moors,  skilled  in  little  else 
than  husbandry  or  rude  mechanic  arts.  We  have 
nowhere  met  with  any  estimate  of  the  number  who 
migrated  on  this  occasion.  The  Castilian  writers 
pass  over  the  whole  affair  in  a  very  few  words  ;  not, 
indeed,  as  is  too  evident,  from  any  feelings  of  dis- 
approbation, but  from  its  insignificance  in  a  political 
view.  Their  silence  implies  a  very  inconsiderable 
amount  of  emigrants ;   a  circumstance  not  to  be 

31  Pragmaticas  del  Reyno,  fol.  7.  but  this  edict  was  so  obviously  sug- 

32  Bleda  anxiously  claims  the  gested  by  that  against  the  Jews, 
credit  of  the  act  of  expulsion  for  that  it  may  be  considered  as  the 
Fray  Thomas  de  Torquemada,  of  result  of  his  principles,  if  not  di- 
inquisitorial  memory.  (Coronica,  rectly  taught  by  him.  Thus  it  is, 
p.  640.)  That  eminent  personage  "  the  evil  that  men  do  lives  after 
had, indeed,  been  dead  some  years;  them  " 


448 


RISING  IN  THE  ALP UX ARRAS. 


part     wondered  at,  as  there  were  very  few,  probably,  who 

 —  would  not  sooner  imitate  their  Granadine  brethren, 

in  assuming  the  mask  of  Christianity,  than  encoun- 
ter exile  under  all  the  aggravated  miseries  with 
which  it  was  accompanied.33 

Castile  might  now  boast,  the  first  time  for  eight 
centuries,  that  every  outward  stain,  at  least,  of  infi- 
delity, was  purified  from  her  bosom.  But  how  had 
this  been  accomplished  ?  By  the  most  detestable 
expedients  which  sophistry  could  devise,  and  op- 
pression execute  ;  and  that,  too,  under  an  enlight- 
ened government,  proposing  to  be  guided  solely  by 
a  conscientious  regard  for  duty.  To  comprehend 
this  more  fully,  it  will  be  necessary  to  take  a  brief 
view  of  public  sentiment  in  matters  of  religion  at 
that  time. 

Christianity      It  is  a  singular  paradox,  that  Christianity,  whose 

andMahom-  .  .     b  1  9  .  J\ 

etauism.  doctrines  inculcate  unbounded  charity,  should  have 
been  made  so  often  an  engine  of  persecution ; 
while  Mahometan  ism,  whose  principles  are  those 
of  avowed  intolerance,  should  have  exhibited,  at 
least  till  later  times,  a  truly  philosophical  spirit  of 
toleration. 34  Even  the  first  victorious  disciples 
of  the  prophet,  glowing  with  all  the  fiery  zeal  of 


33  The  Castilian  writers,  espe- 
cially the  dramatic,  have  not  been 
insensible  to  the  poetical  situations 
afforded  by  the  distresses  of  the 
banished  Moriscoes.  Their  sym- 
pathy for  the  exiles,  however,  is 
whimsically  enough  contrasted  by 
an  orthodox  anxiety  to  justify  the 
conduct  of  their  own  government. 
The  reader  may  recollect  a  perti- 
nent example  in  the  story  of  San- 


cho's  Moorish  friend,  Rinote.  Don 
Quixote,  part.  2,  cap.  54. 

34  The  spirit  of  toleration  pro- 
fessed by  the  Moors,  indeed,  was 
made  a  principal  argument  against 
them  in  the  archbishop  of  Va- 
lencia's memorial  to  Philip  III. 
The  Mahometans  would  seem  the 
better  Christians  of  the  two. 
See  Geddes,  Miscellaneous  Tracts 
(London,  1702-6,)  vol.  i.  p.  94. 


DEATH  OF  ALONSO  DE  AGUILAR.  44f) 

proselytism,  were  content  with  the  exaction  of  tub-  chapter 
ule  from  the  vanquished  ;  at  least,  more  vindictive  vn 
feelings  were  reserved  only  for  idolaters,  who  did 
not,  like  the  Jews  and  Christians,  acknowledge 
with  themselves  the  unity  of  God.  With  these 
latter  denominations  they  had  obvious  sympathy, 
since  it  was  their  creed  which  formed  the  basis  of 
their  own.35  In  Spain,  where  the  fiery  tempera- 
ment of  the  Arab  was  gradually  softened  under  the 
influence  of  a  temperate  climate  and  higher  mental 
culture,  the  toleration  of  the  Jews  and  Christians, 
as  we  have  already  had  occasion  to  notice,  was  so 
remarkable,  that,  within  a  few  years  after  the  con- 
quest, we  find  them  not  only  protected  in  the 
enjoyment  of  civil  and  religious  freedom,  but  min- 
gling on  terms  almost  of  equality  with  their  con- 
querors. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  inquire  here,  how  far  the 
different  policy  of  the  Christians  was  owing  to 
the  peculiar  constitution  of  their  hierarchy,  which, 
composed  of  a  spiritual  militia  drawn  from  every 
country  in  Europe,  was  cut  off  by  its  position  from 
all  human  sympathies,  and  attached  to  no  interests 
but  its  own ;  which  availed  itself  of  the  superior 

35  Heeren  seems  willing  to  conn-  tians,  if  Locke  reasons  justly,  be- 
tenance  the  learned  Pluquet  in  re-  cause  they  firmly  believe  the  im- 
garding  Islamism,  in  its  ancient  maculate  conception,  divine  char- 
form,  as  one  of  the  modifications  acter,  and  miracles  of  the  Messiah  ; 
of  Christianity  ;  placing  the  prin-  heterodox  in  denying-  vehemently 
cipal  difference  between  that  and  his  character  of  Son,  and  his  equal- 
Socinianism,  for  example,  in  the  ity,  as  God,  with  the  Father,  of 
mere  rites  of  circumcision  and  bap-  whose  unity  and  attributes  they  en- 
tism.  (Essai  sur  l'lnfluence  des  tertain  and  express  the  most  awful 
Croisades,traduit  par  Villers,  (Par-  ideas."  See  his  Dissertation  on 
is,  1808,)  p.  175,  not.)  "  The  Mus-  the  Gods  of  Greece,  Ita  y,  and 
sulmans,"  says  Sir  William  Jones,  India;  Works,  (London,  1799,) 
•  are  a  sort  of  heterodox  Chris-  vol.  i.  p.  279. 
VOL.  IT.  57 


450 


RISING  IN  THE  ALPUXARRAS. 


part     science  and  reputed  sanctity,  that  were  supposed 

 ■ —  to  have  given  it  the  key  to  the  dread  mysteries  of 

a  future  life,  not  to  enlighten  but  to  enslave  the 
minds  of  a  credulous  world  ;  and  which,  making 
its  own  tenets  the  only  standard  of  faith,  its  own 
rites  and  ceremonial  the  only  evidence  of  virtue, 
obliterated  the  great  laws  of  morality,  written  by 
the  divine  hand  on  every  heart,  and  gradually  built 
up  a  system  of  exclusiveness  and  intolerance  most 
repugnant  to  the  mild  and  charitable  religion  of 
Jesus  Christ. 

Aggravated  Before  the  close  of  the  fifteenth  century,  sever- 
in  the  J 

wSy1.  a'  circumstances  operated  to  sharpen  the  edge  of 
intolerance,  especially  against  the  Arabs.  The 
Turks,  whose  political  consideration  of  late  years 
had  made  them  the  peculiar  representatives  and 
champions  of  Mahometanism,  had  shown  a  ferocity 
and  cruelty  in  their  treatment  of  the  Christians, 
which  brought  general  odium  on  all  the  professors 
of  their  faith,  and  on  the  Moors,  of  course,  though 
most  undeservedly,  in  common  with  the  rest.  The 
bold,  heterodox  doctrines,  also,  which  had  occa- 
sionally broken  forth  in  different  parts  of  Europe 
in  the  fifteenth  century,  like  so  many  faint  streaks 
of  light  ushering  in  the  glorious  morn  of  the 
Reformation,  had  roused  the  alarm  of  the  cham- 
pions of  the  church,  and  kindled  on  more  than  one 
occasion  the  fires  of  persecution  ;  and,  before  the 
close  of  the  period,  the  Inquisition  was  introduced 
into  Spain. 

Km.fsnf        From  that  disastrous  hour,  religion  wore  a  new 

the  lnqui-  #  ° 

sltitm-        aspect  in  this  unhappy  country.    The  Spirit  of  in- 


DEATH  OF  ALONSO  DE  AGUILAR. 


tolerance,  no  longer  hooded  in  the  darkness  of  the  chapter 
cloister,  now  stalked  abroad  in  all  his  terrors.  Zeal  VIL 
was  exalted  into  fanaticism,  and  a  rational  spirit  of 
proselytism,  into  one  of  fiendish  persecution.  It 
was  not  enough  now,  as  formerly,  to  conform  pas- 
sively to  the  doctrines  of  the  church,  but  it  was 
enjoined  to  make  war  on  all  who  refused  them. 
The  natural  feelings  of  compunction  in  the  dis- 
charge of  this  sad  duty  was  a  crime  ;  and  the  tear 
of  sympathy,  wrung  out  by  the  sight  of  mortal 
agonies,  was  an  offence  to  be  expiated  by  humili 
ating  penance.  The  most  frightful  maxims  were 
deliberately  engrafted  into  the  code  of  morals. 
Any  one,  it  was  said,  might  conscientiously  kill  an 
apostate  wherever  he  could  meet  him.  There  was 
some  doubt  whether  a  man  might  slay  his  own 
father,  if  a  heretic  or  infidel,  but  none  whatever  as 
to  his  right,  in  that  event,  to  take  away  the  life  of 
his  son  or  of  his  brother.36  These  maxims  were 
not  a  dead  letter,  but  of  most  active  operation-,  as 
the  sad  records  of  the  dread  tribunal  too  well 
prove.  The  character  of  the  nation  underwent  a 
melancholy  change.  The  milk  of  charity,  nay  of 
human  feeling,  was  soured  in  every  bosom.  The 
liberality  of  the  old  Spanish  cavalier  gave  way  to 
the  fiery  fanaticism  of  the  monk.  The  taste  for 
blood,  once  gratified,  begat  a  cannibal  appetite  in 

36  See  the  bishop  of  Orihuela's  presses  an  opinion,  with  which 

treatise,  "  De  Bello  Sacro,"  etc.,  Bleda  heartily  coincides,  that  the 

cited  by  the  industrious  Clemencin.  government  would  be  perfectly  jus- 

(Mem.  de  la  Acad,  de  Hist.,  torn,  tified  in  taking  away  the  life  of 

vi.  Ilust.  15.)     The  Moors  and  every  Moor  in  the  kingdom,  for 

Jews,  of  course,  stood  no  chance  in  their  shameless  infidelity.  Ubisu- 

this  code  ;  the  reverend  father  ex-  pra. ;  — and  Bleda,  Coronica,  p.  995. 


452 


RISING  IN  THE  ALPUXARRAS. 


part  the  people,  who,  cheered  on  by  the  frantic  clergy. 
 ■ —  seemed  to  vie  with  one  another  in  the  eagerness, 

with  which  they  ran  down  the  miserable  game  of 

the  Inquisition. 
Defects  of       It  was  at  this  very  time,  when  the  infernal  mon- 

the  treaty  of  J  7 

r.ranada.  ster^  g0rge(j  ULlt  not  sated  with  human  sacrifice, 
was  crying  aloud  for  fresh  victims,  that  Granada 
surrendered  to  .  the  Spaniards,  under  the  solemn 
guaranty  of  the  full  enjoyment  of  civil  and  religious 
liberty.  The  treaty  of  capitulation  granted  too 
much,  or  too  little,  —  too  little  for  an  independent 
state,  too  much  for  one,  whose  existence  was  now 
merged  in  that  of  a  greater ;  for  it  secured  to  the 
Moors  privileges  in  some  respects  superior  to  those 
of  the  Castilians,  and  to  the  prejudice  of  the  latter. 
Such,  for  example,  was  the  permission  to  trade  with 
the  Barbary  coast,  and  with  the  various  places  in 
Castile  and  Andalusia,  without  paying  the  duties 
imposed  on  the  Spaniards  themselves ; 37  and  that 
article,  again,  by  which  runaway  Moorish  slaves 
from  other  parts  of  the  kingdom  were  made  free 
and  incapable  of  being  reclaimed  by  their  masters, 
if  they  could  reach  Granada.38  The  former  of  these 
provisions  struck  at  the  commercial  profits  of  the 
Spaniards,  the  latter  directly  at  their  property. 
Ev^ionof  It  is  not  too  mueh  to  say,  that  such  a  treaty,  de- 
christiana.  pending  for  its  observance  on  the  good  faith  and 
forbearance  of  the  stronger  party,  would  not  hold 
together  a  year  in  any  country  of  Christendom, 


37  The  articles  of  the  treaty  are  belion  de  Moriscos,  lib.  1,  cap.  19. 
detailed  at  length  by  Marmol,  Re-       38  Idem,  ubi  supra. 


DEATH  OF  ALONSO  DE  AGUILAR. 


even  at  the  present  day,  before  some  flaw  or  pre-  chapter 

text  would  be  devised  to  evade  it.    How  much   VIL 

greater  was  the  probability  of  this  in  the  present 
case,  where  the  weaker  party  was  viewed  with  all 
the  accumulated  odium  of  long  hereditary  hostility 
and  religious  rancor? 

The  work  of  conversion,  on  which  the  Christians, 
no  doubt,  much  relied,  was  attended  with  greater 
difficulties  than  had  been  anticipated  by  the  con- 
querors. It  was  now  found,  that,  while  the  Moors 
retained  their  present  faith,  they  would  be  much 
better  affected  towards  their  countrymen  in  Africa, 
than  to  the  nation  with  which  they  were  incorpo- 
rated. In  short,  Spain  still  had  enemies  in  her 
bosom ;  and  reports  were  rife  in  every  quarter,  of 
their  secret  intelligence  with  the  Barbary  states, 
and  of  Christians  kidnapped  to  be  sold  as  slaves  to 
Algerine  corsairs.  Such  tales,  greedily  circulated 
and  swallowed,  soon  begat  general  alarm ;  and  men 
are  not  apt  to  be  over-scrupulous  as  to  measures, 
which  they  deem  essential  to  their  personal  safety. 

The  zealous  attempt  to  bring  about  conversion 
by  preaching  and  expostulation  was  fair  and  com- 
mendable. The  intervention  of  bribes  and  prom- 
ises, if  it  violated  the  spirit,  did  not,  at  least,  the 
letter  of  the  treaty.  The  application  of  force  to  a 
few  of  the  most  refractory,  who  by  their  blind  ob- 
stinacy were  excluding  a  whole  nation  from  the 
benefits  of  redemption,  was  to  be  defended  on 
other  grounds ;  and  these  were  not  wanting  to  cun- 
ning theologians,  who  considered,  that  the  sanctity 
of  the  end  justified  extraordinary  means,  and  that, 


464 


RISING  IN  THE  ALPUXARRAS. 


PART 

II. 


Priestly 
casuistry. 


where  the  eternal  interests  of  the  soul  were  at 
stake,  the  foree  of  promises  and  the  faith  of  trea- 
ties were  equally  nugatory.39 

But  the  chef-cPmivre  of  monkish  casuistry  was 
the  argument  imputed  to  Ximenes  for  depriving  the 
Moors  of  the  benefits  of  the  treaty,  as  a  legitimate 
consequence  of  the  rebellion,  into  which  they  had 
been  driven  by  his  own  malpractices.  This  propo- 
sition, however,  far  from  outraging  the  feelings  of 
the  nation,  well  drilled  by  this  time  in  the  meta- 
physics of  the  cloister,  fell  short  of  them,  if  we  are 
to  judge  from  recommendations  of  a  still  more 
questionable  import,  urged,  though  ineffectually,  on 
the  sovereigns  at  this  very  time,  from  the  highest 
quarter. 40 

Such  are  the  frightful  results  to  which  the  fairest 


39  See  the  arguments  of  Xime- 
nes, or  of  his  enthusiastic  biogra- 
pher Flechier,  for  it  is  not  always 
easy  to  discriminate  between  them. 
Hist,  de  Ximenes,  pp.  108,  109. 

40  The  duke  of  Medina  Sidonia 
proposed  to  Ferdinand  and  Isabella 
to  be  avenged  on  the  Moors,  in 
some  way  not  explained,  after  their 
disembarkation  in  Africa,  on  the 
ground  that,  the  term  of  the  royal 
safe-conduct  having  elapsed,  they 
might  lawfully  be  treated  as  ene- 
mies. To  this  proposal,  which 
would  have  done  honor  to  a  college 
of  Jesuits  in  the  sixteenth  century, 
the  sovereigns  made  a  reply  too 
creditable  not  to  be  transcribed. 
"  El  Rei  e  la  Reina.  Fernando  de 
Zafra,  nuestro  secretario.  Vimos 
vuestra  letra,  en  que  nos  fecistes 
saber  lo  que  el  duque  de  Medinasi- 
donia  tenia  pensado  que  se  podia 
facer  contra  los  Moros  de  Villa- 
luenga  despues  de  desembarcados 


allende.  Decidle  que  le  agrade- 
cemos  y  tenemos  en  servicio  el 
buen  deseo  que  tiene  de  nos  servir  : 
pero  porqve"  nucstra  palabra  y  scguro 
real  asi  se  debe  guar  dor  a  los  injieles 
como  a  los  Cristianos,  y  faciendose 
lo  que  el  dice  pareceria  cautela  y 
engafio  armado  sobre  nuestro  segu- 
ro  para  no  le  guardar,  que  en  nin- 
guna  manera  se  haga  eso,  ni  otra 
cosa  de  que  pueda  parecer  que 
se  quebranta  nuestro  seguro.  De 
Granada  veinte  y  nueve  de  mayo 
de  quinientos  y  un  afios.  —  Yo  el 
Rei.  —  Yo  la  rveina  —  For  manda- 
do  de)  Rei  e  del  Reina,  Miguel  Pe- 
rez Almazan."  Would  that  the 
suggestions  of  Isabella's  own  heart, 
instead  of  the  clergy,  had  always 
been  the  guide  of  her  conduct  in 
these  matters  !  Mem.  de  la  Acad, 
de  Hist.,  torn.  vi.  llust.  15,  from 
the  original  in  the  archives  of  the 
family  of  Medina  Sidonia. 


DEATH  O*  ALONSO  DE  AGUILAR. 


456 


mind  may  be  led,  when  it  introduces  the  refine-  chapter 

merit's  of  logic  into  the  discussions  of  duty  ;  when,   —  

proposing  to  achieve  some  great  good,  whether  in 
politics  or  religion,  it  conceives  that  the  importance 
of  the  object  authorizes  a  departure  from  the  plain 
principles  of  morality,  which  regulate  the  ordinary 
affairs  of  life  ;  and  when,  blending  these  higher  in- 
terests with  those  of  a  personal  nature,  it  becomes 
incapable  of  discriminating  between  them,  and  is 
led  insensibly  to  act  from  selfish  motives,  while  it 
fondly  imagines  itself  obeying  only  the  conscien- 
tious dictates  of  duty.41 

With  these  events  may  be  said  to  terminate  the  1  ™ B™«> 

J  ot  the  Moors 

history  of  the  Moors,  or  the  Moriscoes,  as  hence-  Su^iST" 
forth  called,  under  the  present  reign.  Eight  cen- 
turies had  elapsed  since  their  first  occupation  of  the 
country  ;  during  which  period  they  had  exhibited 
all  the  various  phases  of  civilization,  from  its  dawn 
to  its  decline.  Ten  years  had  sufficed  to'  overturn 
the  splendid  remains  of  this  powerful  empire  ;  and 


41  A  memorial  of  the  archbishop 
of  Valencia  to  Philip  III.  affords 
an  example  of  this  moral  obliquity, 
that  may  make  one  laugh,  or  weep, 
according  to  the  temper  of  his  phi- 
losophy. In  this  precious  document 
he  says,  "  Your  Majesty  may, 
without  any  scruple  of  conscience, 
make  slaves  of  all  the  Moriscoes, 
and  may  put  them  into  your  own 
galleys  or  mines,  or  sell  them  to 
strangers.  And  as  to  their  chil- 
dren, they  may  be  all  sold  at  good 
rates  here  in  Spain ;  which  will  be 
so  far  from  being  a  punishment, 
that  it  will  be  a  mercy  to  them; 
since  by  that  means  they  will  all 
become  Christians  ;    which  they 


would  never  have  been,  had  they 
continued  with  their  parents.  By 
the  holy  execution  of  which  piece 
of  justice,  a  great  sum  of  money 
will  flow  into  your  Majesty1  s  treas- 
ury.11 (Geddes,  Miscellaneous 
Tracts,  vol.  i.  p.  71.)  "II  n'est 
point  d'hostilite  excellente  comme 
la  Chrestienne,"  says  old  Mon- 
taigne ;  "  nostre  zele  faict  mer- 
veilles,  quand  il  va  secondant  nostre 
pente  verslahaine,  la  cruaute,l'am- 
bition,  1 'avarice,  la  detraction,  la 
rebellion.  Nostre  religion  est  faicte 
pour  extirper  les  vices  ;  elle  les 
couvre,  les  nourrit,  les  incite."  Es- 
sais,  liv.  2,  chap.  12. 


456 


RISING  IN  THE  ALPUXARRAS. 


part     ten  more,  for  its  nominal  conversion  to  Christianity. 

_   A  long  century  of  persecution,  of  unmitigated  and 

unmerited  suffering,  was  to  follow,  before  the  whole 
was  to  be  consummated  by  the  expulsion  of  this  un- 
happy race  from  the  Peninsula.  Their  story,  in 
this  latter  period,  furnishes  one  of  the  most  memo- 
rable examples  in  history,  of  the  impotence  of 
persecution,  even  in  support  of  a  good  cause  against 
a  bad  one.  It  is  a  lesson  that  cannot  be  too  deep- 
ly pondered  through  every  succeeding  age.  The 
fires  of  the  Inquisition  are,  indeed,  extinguished, 
probably  to  be  lighted  no  more.  But  where  is  the 
land,  which  can  boast,  that  the  spirit  of  intolerance, 
which  forms  the  very  breath  of  persecution,  is  alto- 
gether extinct  in  its  bosom  ? 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


COLUMBUS.  —  PROSECUTION  OF  DISCOVERY.  —  HIS 
TREATMENT  BY  THE  COURT. 

1494—1503. 

Progress  of  Discovery.  —  Reaction  of  Public  Feeling.  —  The  Queen's 
Confidence  in  Columbus.  —  He  discovers  Terra  Firma.  —  Isabella 
sends  back  the  Indian  Slaves. — Complaints  against  Columbus. — 
Superseded  in  the  Government.  —  Vindication  of  the  Sovereigns. 
—  His  fourth  and  last  Voyage. 

The  reader  will  turn  with  satisfaction  from  the  chapter 

melancholy  and  mortifying  details  of  superstition,   V1"'  . 

to  the  generous  efforts,  which  the  Spanish  govern-  dX^V* 
ment  was  making  to  enlarge  the  limits  of  science 
and  dominion  in  the  west.  "  Amidst  the  storms 
and  troubles  of  Italy,  Spain  was  every  day  stretch- 
ing her  wings  over  a  wider  sweep  of  empire,  and 
extending  the  glory  of  her  name  to  the  far  An- 
tipodes.55 Such  is  the  swell  of  exultation  with 
which  the  enthusiastic  Italian,  Martyr,  notices  the 
brilliant  progress  of  discovery  under  his  illustrious 
countryman  Columbus.1  The  Spanish  sovereigns 
had  never  lost  sight  of  the  new  domain,  so  unex- 
pectedly opened  to  them,  as  it  were,  from  the 

1  44  Inter  has  Italiae  procellas  riam  nomenque  suum  ad  Antipodes 
magis  indies  ac  magis  alas  proten-  porriget."  Peter  Martyr,  Opus 
dit  Hispania,  imperium  auget,  glo-    Epist.,  epist.  146. 


VOL.  II. 


58 


453 


PROGRESS  OF  DISCOVERY". 


11. 


part  depths  of  the  ocean.  The  first  accounts  transmit- 
ted by  the  great  navigator  and  his  comp<  nions,  on 
his  second  voyage,  while  their  imaginations  were 
warm  with  the  beauty  and  novelty  of  the  scenes 
which  met  their  eyes  in  the  New  World,  served  to 
keep  alive  the  tone  of  excitement,  which  their 
unexpected  successes  had  kindled  in  the  nation.2 
The  various  specimens  sent  home  in  the  return 
ships,  of  the  products  of  these  unknown  regions, 
confirmed  the  agreeable  belief  that  they  formed 
part  of  the  great  Asiatic  continent,  which  had  so 
long  excited  the  cupidity  of  Europeans.  The 
Spanish  court,  sharing  in  the  general  enthusiasm, 
endeavoured  to  promote  the  spirit  of  discovery  and 
colonization,  by  forwarding  the  requisite  supplies, 
and  complying  promptly  with  the  most  minute 
suggestions  of  Columbus.  But,  in  less  than  two 
years  from  the  commencement  of  his  second 
voyage,  the  face  of  things  experienced  a  melan- 
choly change.  Accounts  were  received  at  home 
of  the  most  alarming  discontent  and  disaffection  in 
the  colony  ;  while  the  actual  returns  from  these 
vaunted  regions  were  so  scanty,  as  to  bear  no 
proportion  to  the  expenses  of  the  expedition. 

2  See,  among  others,  a  letter  of  en  el  mundo,  porque  ve»dadera- 
Dr.  Chanca,  who  accompanied  mente  a  otro  camino  que  los  navios 
Columbus  on  his  second  voyage,  vuelvan  puedan  llevar  tanta  canti- 
It  is  addressed  to  the  authorities  of  dad  de  oro  que  se  pueden  maravi- 
Seville.  After  noticing  the  evi-  liar  cualesquiera  que  lo  supieren." 
deuces  of  gold  in  Hispaniola,  he  In  another  part  of  the  letter,  the 
says  ;  "  Ansi  que  de  cierto  los  Doctor  is  equally  sanguine  in  re- 
Reyes  nuestros  Senores  desde  ago-  gard  to  the  fruitfulness  of  the  soil 
ra  se  pueden  tener  por  los  mas  and  climate.  Letra  de  Dr.  Chanca, 
prosperos  e  mas  ricos  Principes  del  apud  Navarrete,  Coleccion  de  Via- 
mundo,  porque  tal  cosa  hasta  agora  ges,  torn.  i.  pp.  198-224. 
no  se  ha  visto  ni  leido  de  ninguno 


TREATMENT  OF  COLUMBUS. 


459 


This  unfortunate  result  was  in  a  great  measure  chafer 

imputable  to  the  misconduct  of  the  colonists  them-   V111' 

selves.    Most  of  them  were  adventurers,  who  had 

of  the  colo- 
nists. 

embarked  with  no  other  expectation  than  that  of 
getting  together  a  fortune  as  speedily  as  possible  in 
the  golden  Indies.  They  were  without  subordina- 
tion, patience,  industry,  or  any  of  the  regular  habits 
demanded  for  success  in  such  an  enterprise.  As 
soon  as  they  had  launched  from  their  native  shore, 
they  seemed  to  feel  themselves  released  from  the 
constraints  of  all  law.  They  harboured  jealousy 
and  distrust  of  the  admiral  as  a  foreigner.  The 
cavaliers  and  hidalgos,  of  whom  there  were  too 
many  in  the  expedition,  contemned  him  as  an 
upstart,  whom  it  was  derogatory  to  obey.  From 
the  first  moment  of  their  landing  in  Hispaniola, 
they  indulged  the  most  wranton  license  in  regard  to 
the  unoffending  natives,  who,  in  the  simplicity  of 
their  hearts,  had  received  the  white  men  as  mes- 
sengers from  Heaven.  Their  outrages,  however, 
soon  provoked  a  general  resistance,  which  led  to 
such  a  war  of  extermination,  that,  in  less  than 
four  years  after  the  Spaniards  had  set  foot  on  the 
island,  one  third  of  its  population,  amounting, 
probably,  to  several  hundred  thousands,  were 
sacrificed !  Such  were  the  melancholy  auspices, 
under  which  the  intercourse  was  opened  between 
the  civilized  white  man  and  the  simple  natives  of 
the  western  world.3 

3  Fernando  Colon.  Hist,  del  Al-  25.  —  Herrera,Indias  Occidentals, 
mirante,  cap.  60,  62.  —  Muiloz,  dec.  1,  lib.  2,  cap.  9.  —  Benzoni 
Mist,  del  Nuevo-Mundo,  lib.  5,  sec.    Novi  Orbis  Hist. ,  lib.  1,  cap.  9. 


460 


PROGRESS  OF  DISCOVERY. 


part        These  excesses,  and  a  total  neglect  of  agricul- 

 ! —  ture,  —  for  none  would  condescend  to  turn  up  the 

earth  for  any  other  object  than  the  gold  they  could 
find  in  it,  —  at  length  occasioned  an  alarming 
scarcity  of  provisions ;  while  the  poor  Indians  neg- 
lected their  usual  husbandry,  being  willing  to 
starve  themselves,  so  that  they  could  starve  out 
their  oppressors.4  In  order  to  avoid  the  famine 
which  menaced  his  little  colony,  Columbus  was 
obliged  to  resort  to  coercive  measures,  shortening 
the  allowance  of  food,  and  compelling  all  to  work, 
without  distinction  of  rank.  These  unpalatable 
regulations  soon  bred  general  discontent.  The 
high-mettled  hidalgos,  especially,  complained  loudly 
of  the  indignity  of  such  mechanical  drudgery,  while 
Father  Boil  and  his  brethren  were  equally  outraged 
by  the  diminution  of  their  regular  rations. 5 
complaints      The  Spanish  sovereigns  were  now  daily  assailed 

against  i  o  J 

coiumbus.  w;tjj  complaints  of  the  maladministration  of  Co- 
lumbus, and  of  his  impolitic  and  unjust  severities  to 
both  Spaniards  and  natives.  They  lent,  however, 
an  unwilling  ear  to  these  vague  accusations  ;  they 
fully  appreciated  the  difficulties  of  his  situation  ; 
and,  although  they  sent  out  an  agent  to  inquire  into 
149  5.  the  nature  of  the  troubles  which  threatened  the 
August.  exjstence  0f  tjie  co]onyj  they  were  careful  to  select 
an  individual  who  they  thought  would  be  most 

4  The  Indians  had  some  grounds  Casas,  precedees  de  sa  Vie,  (Paris, 

for  relying  on  the  efficacy  of  starva-  1822,)  torn.  i.  p.  11. 

tion,  if,  as  Las  Casas  gravely  as-  5  Martyr,  De  Rebus  Oceanicis 

serts,  "  one  Spaniard  consumed  in  dec.  1,  lib.  4. — Gomara,  Hist,  de 

a  single  day  as  much  as  would  suf-  las  Indias,  cap.  20,  torn.  ii.  —  Her 

flee  three  families  !  "    Llorente,  rera,  Indias  Occidentales,  dec.  1 

CEuvres  de  Don  Barth^lemi  de  las  lib.  2,  cap.  12. 


TREATMENT  OF  COLUMBUS 


461 


grateful  to  the  admiral :  and  when  the  latter  in  the  chapter 

VIII. 

following  year,  1496,  returned  to  Spain,  they  re-  — 
ceived  him  with  the  most  ample  acknowledgments  juiy  j2 
of  regard.  "  Come  to  us,"  they  said,  in  a  kind 
letter  of  congratulation,  addressed  to  him  soon 
after  his  arrival,  "  when  you  can  do  it  without 
inconvenience  to  yourself,  for  you  have  endured 
too  many  vexations  already."6 

The  admiral  brought  with  him,  as  before,  such  nis  second 

°  return. 

samples  of  the  productions  of  the  western  hemi- 
sphere, as  would  strike  the  public  eye,  and  keep 
alive  the  feeling  of  curiosity.  On  his  journey 
through  Andalusia,  he  passed  some  days  under  the 
hospitable  roof  of  the  good  curate,  Bernaldez,  who 
dwells  with  much  satisfaction  on  the  remarkable 
appearance  of  the  Indian  chiefs,  following  in  the 
admiral's  train,  gorgeously  decorated  with  golden 
collars  and  coronets,  and  various  barbaric  orna- 
ments. Among  these  he  particularly  notices  cer- 
tain "  belts  and  masks  of  cotton  and  of  wood,  with 
figures  of  the  Devil  embroidered  and  carved  there- 
on, sometimes  in  his  own  proper  likeness,  and  at 
others  in  that  of  a  cat  or  an  owl.  There  is  much 
reason,"  he  infers,  "  to  believe  that  he  appears  to 
the  islanders  in  this  guise,  and  that  they  are  all 
idolaters,  having  Satan  for  their  lord !  " 7 

But  neither  the  attractions  of  the  spectacle,  nor 

6  Navarrete,  Coleccion  de  Via-  es  the  same  charitable  opinion, 
ges,  torn.  ii.  Doc.  Dipl.,  no.  101.  "  Muy  cjaramente  se  conocio  que 
—  Fernando  Colon,  Hist,  del  Al-  el  demonio  estava  apoderado  de 
inirante,  cap.  64. — Muiloz,  Hist,  aquella  gente,  y  la  traia  ciega  y 
del  Nuevo-Mundo,  lib.  5,  sec.  31.  engafiada,  hablandoles,  y  mostran- 

7  Bernaldez,   Reyes   Catolicos,  doles  en  diversas  figuras."  Jndias 
MS.,  cap.  131.  —  Herrera express*  Occidentales,  lib.  3,  cap.  4. 


462 


PROGRESS  OF  DISCOVERY. 


n. 


part  the  glowing  representations  of  Columbus,  who  fan- 
cied he  had  discovered  in  the  mines  of  Hispaniola 
the  golden  quarries  of  Ophir,  from  which  King  Sol- 
omon had  enriched  the  temple  of  Jerusalem,  could 
rekindle  the  dormant  enthusiasm  of  the  nation. 
The  novelty  of  the  thing  had  passed.  They  heard 
a  different  tale,  moreover,  from  the  other  voyagers, 
whose  wan  and  sallow  visages  provoked  the  bitter 
jest,  that  they  had  returned  with  more  gold  in  their 
faces  than  in  their  pockets.  In  short,  the  skepti- 
cism of  the  public  seemed  now  quite  in  proportion 
to  its  former  overweening  confidence  ;  and  the  re- 
turns were  so  meagre,  says  Bernaldez,  u  that  it 
was  very  generally  believed  there  was  little  or  no 
gold  in  the  island."8 
The  queens      Isabella  was  far  from  participating  in  this  unrea- 

1  J.  o 

sonable  distrust.  She  had  espoused  the  theory  of 
Columbus,  when  others  looked  coldly  or  contempt- 
uously on  it.9  She  firmly  relied  on  his  repeated 
assurances,  that  the  track  of  discovery  would  lead 
to  other  and  more  important  regions.  She  formed 
a  higher  estimate,  moreover,  of  the  value  of  the 
new  acquisitions  than  any  founded  on  the  actual 
proceeds  in  gold  and  silver ;  keeping  ever  in  view, 
as  her  letters  and  instructions  abundantly  show,  the 


8  Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catolicos,  Sefiora  dio  Nuestro  Sefior  el  es- 
MS.,  cap.  131.  —  Mufioz,  Hist,  del  piritu  de  inreligencia  y  esfuerzo 
Nuevo-Mundo,  lib.  6,  sec.  1.  grande,  y  la  hizo  de  todo  heredera 

9  Columbus,  in  his  letter  to  como  a  cara  y  muy  amada  hija." 
Prince  John's  nurse,  dated  1500,  "  Su  Alteza  lo  aprobaba  al  contra- 
makes  the  following  ample  ac-  rio,  y  lo  sostuvo  fasta  que  pudo." 
knowledgment  of  the  queen's  early  JMavarrete,  Coleccion  de  Yiages, 
protection  of  him.     "  En  todos  torn.  i.  p.  2GG. 

hobo  incredulidad,  y  a  la  Reina  mi 


confidence 
in  him  uiv 
shaken. 


TREATMENT  OF  COLUMBUS. 


463 


glorious  purpose  of  introducing  the  blessings  of  chapter 
Christian  civilization  among  the  heathen.10  She  — 
entertained  a  deep  sense  of  the  merits  of  Columbus, 
to  whose  serious  and  elevated  character  her  own 
bore  much  resemblance ;  although  the  enthusiasm, 
which  distinguished  each,  was  naturally  tempered 
in  hers  with  somewhat  more  of  benignity  and  dis- 
cretion. 

But  although  the  queen  was  willing  to  give  the 
most  effectual  support  to  his  great  enterprise,  the 
situation  of  the  country  was  such  as  made  delay  in 
its  immediate  prosecution  unavoidable.  Large  ex- 
pense was  necessarily  incurred  for  the  actual  main- 
tenance of  the  colony;11  the  exchequer  was  liberal- 
ly drained,  moreover,  by  the  Italian  war,  as  well  as 
by  the  profuse  magnificence  with  which  the  nuptials 
of  the  royal  family  were  now  celebrating.  It  was, 
indeed,  in  the  midst  of  the  courtly  revelries  attend- 
ing the  marriage  of  Prince  John,  that  the  admiral 
presented  himself  before  the  sovereigns  at  Burgos, 
after  his  second  voyage.  Such  was  the  low  condi- 
tion of  the  treasury  from  these  causes,  that  Isabella 
was  obliged  to  defray  the  cost  of  an  outfit  to  the 
colony,  at  this  time,  from  funds  originally  destined 
for  the  marriage  of  her  daughter  Isabella  with  the 
king  of  Portugal.12 

10  See  the  letters  to  Columbus,  six  million  maravedies.  Mufioz, 
dated  May  14th,  1493,  August,  Hist,  del  Nuevo-Mundo,  lib.  5, 
1494,  apud  Navarrete,  Coleccion  sec.  33. 

de  Viagea,  torn.  ii.  pp.  66,  154,  et  12  Idem,  lib.  6,  sec.  2.  —  Fernan- 

mult.  a).  do  Colon,  Hist,  del  Almirante,  cap. 

11  The  salaries  alone,  annually  64.  —  Herrera,  Indias  Occidentals, 
disbursed  by  the  crown  to  persons  lib.  3,  cap.  1. 

resident  in  the  colony,  amounted  to 


/ 


4-64  PROGRESS  OF  DISCOVERY. 

part        This  unwelcome  delay,  however,  was  softened 
—  to  Columbus  by  the  distinguished  marks  which  he 

FTonors  con-  J  0 

terredon  daily  received  of  the  royal  favor;  and  various  ordi- 
nances were  passed,  confirming  and  enlarging  his 
great  powers  and  privileges  in  the  most  ample  man- 
ner, to  a  greater  extent,  indeed,  than  his  modesty, 
or  his  prudence,  would  allow  him  to  accept.13  The 
language  in  which  these  princely  gratuities  were 
conferred,  rendered  them  doubly  grateful  to  his 
noble  heart,  containing,  as  they  did,  the  most  em- 
phatic acknowledgments  of  his  "  many,  good,  loyal, 
distinguished,  and  continual  services,"  and  thus 
testifying  the  unabated  confidence  of  his  sovereigns 
in  his  integrity  and  prudence.14 

Among  the  impediments  to  the  immediate  com- 
pletion of  the  arrangements  for  the  admiral's  de- 
parture on  his  third  voyage,  may  be  also  noticed 
the  hostility  of  Bishop  Fonseca,  who,  at  this  period, 
had  the  control  of  the  Indian  department ;  a  man 
of  an  irritable,  and,  as  it  would  seem,  most  unfor- 
giving temper,  who,  from  some  causes  of  disgust 
which  he  had  conceived  with  Columbus  previous  to 
his  second  voyage,  lost  no  opportunity  of  annoying 


13  Such,  for  example,  was  the 
grant  of  an  immense  tract  of  land 
in  Hispaniola,  with  the  title  of 
count  or  duke,  as  the  admiral  might 

K refer.  Muiloz,  Hist,  del  Nuevo- 
lundo,  lib.  6,  sec.  17. 

14  The  instrument  establishing 
the  mayorazgo,  or  perpetual  entail 
of  Columbus's  estates,  contains  an 
injunction,  that  "his  heirs  shall 
never  use  any  other  signature  than 


that  of 4  the  Admiral,'  el  Almirante, 
whatever  other  titles  and  honors 
may  belong  to  them."  That  ti- 
tle indicated  his  peculiar  achieve- 
ments, and  it  was  an  honest  pride 
which  led  him  by  this  simple  ex- 
pedient to  perpetuate  the  remem- 
brance of  them  in  his  posterity. 
See  the  original  document,  apud 
Navarrete,  Coleccion  de  Viagra 
torn.  ii.  pp.  221-235. 


TREATMENT  OF  COLUMBUS. 


465 


and  thwarting  him,  for  which  his  official  station  un-  chapter 

fortunately  afforded  him  too  many  facilities. 15   ' — 

From  these  various  circumstances  the  admiral's  Histwrd 

voyage 

fleet  was  not  ready  before  the  beginning  of  1498. 
Even  then  further  embarrassment  occurred  in  man 
ning  it,  as  few  were  found  willing  to  embark  in  a 
service  which  had  fallen  into  such  general  discredit. 
This  led  to  the  ruinous  expedient  of  substituting 
convicts,  whose  regular  punishments  were  commut- 
ed into  transportation,  for  a  limited  period,  to  the  In- 
dies. No  measure  could  possibly  have  been  devised 
more  effectual  for  the  ruin  of  the  infant  settlement. 
The  seeds  of  corruption,  which  had  been  so  long  fes- 
tering in  the  old  world,  soon  shot  up  into  a  plentiful 
harvest  in  the  new,  and  Columbus,  who  suggested 
the  measure,  was  the  first  to  reap  the  fruits  of  it. 

At  length,  all  being  in  readiness,  the  admiral  em- 
barked on  board  his  little  squadron,  consisting  of 
six  vessels,  whose  complement  of  men,  notwith- 
standing every  exertion,  was  still  deficient,  and  took 
his  departure  from  the  port  of  St.  Lucar,  May  30th, 
1498.  lie  steered  in  a  more  southerly  direction 
than  on  his  preceding  voyages,  and  on  the  first  of 
August  succeeded  in  reaching  terra  firma :  thus  en-  Discovers 

P  •  terrajirma. 

titling  himself  to  the  glory  of  being  the  first  to  set 
foot  on  the  great  southern  continent,  to  which  he 
had  before  opened  the  way.16 

It  is  not  necessary  to  pursue  the  track  of  the 

*S  Mufioz,  Hist,  del  Nuevo-Mun-  l<3  Peter  Martyr,  De  Rebus  Ocean- 
lo,  lib.  6,  sec.  20.  —  Fernando  ieis,  dec.  1,  lib.  6.  — Navarrete,  Co- 
Colon,  Hist,  del  Almirante,  cap.  leccion  de  Viages,  torn.  ii.  Doc. 
64. — Zuiliga,  Annales  de  Sevilla,  Dipl.,nos.  116, 120.  —  Tercer  Viage 
■Alio  1406.  de  Colon,  apud  Navarrete,  torn.  i. 

VOL.  II.  59 


PROGRESS  OF  DISCOVERY. 


part     illustrious  voyager,  whose  career,  forming  the  most 

 brilliant  episode  to  the  history  of  the  present  reign, 

has  been  so  recently  traced  by  a  hand  which  few 
will  care  to  follow.  It  will  suffice  briefly  to  notice 
his  personal  relations  with  the  Spanish  government, 
and  the  principles  on  which  the  colonial  administra- 
tion was  conducted. 
Mutiny  in        On  his  arrival  at  Hispaniola,  Columbus  found  the 

the  colony. 

affairs  of  the  colony  in  the  most  deplorable  confu- 
sion. An  insurrection  had  been  raised  by  the  arts 
of  a  few  factious  individuals  against  his  brother 
Bartholomew,  to  whom  he  had  intrusted  the  gov- 
ernment during  his  absence.  In  this  desperate  re- 
bellion, all  the  interests  of  the  community  were 
neglected.  The  mines,  which  were  just  beginning 
to  yield  a  golden  harvest,  remained  unwrought. 
The  unfortunate  natives  were  subjected  to  the  most 
inhuman  oppression.  There  was  no  law  but  that 
of  the  strongest.  Columbus,  on  his  arrival,  in  vain 
endeavoured  to  restore  order.  The  very  crews 
he  brought  with  him,  who  had  been  unfortunately 
reprieved  from  the  gibbet  in  their  own  country, 
served  to  swell  the  mass  of  mutiny.  The  admiral 
exhausted  art,  negotiation,  entreaty,  force,  and  suc- 
ceeded at  length  in  patching  up  a  specious  recon- 
ciliation by  such  concessions  as  essentially  impaired 
his  own  authority.  Among  these  was  the  grant  of 
large  tracts  of  land  to  the  rebels,  with  permission  to 
the  proprietor  to  employ  an  allotted  number  of  the 

p.   245.  —  Ber.zoni.   Novi    Orbis    3,  cap.  10,  11.  —  Mufioz,  Hist,  del 
Hist.,  lib.  1,  cap.  10,  11.  —  Herre-    Nuevo-Mundo,  lib.  6,  sec.  19 
ra,  Indias  Occidentals,  dec.  1  lib. 


TREATMENT  OF  COLUMBUS. 


467 


natives  in  its  cultivation.    This  was  the  origin  of  chapter 

the  celebrated  system  of  repartimientos,  which  sub-   

sequently  led  to  the  foulest  abuses  that  ever  dis- 
graced humanity.17 

Nearly  a  year  elapsed  after  the  admiral's  return  Loudcom- 

J        J  1  >  plaints 

to  Hispaniola,  before  he  succeeded  in  allaying  these  g;;00, 
intestine  feuds.  In  the  mean  while,  rumors  were 
every  day  reaching  Spain  of  the  distractions  of  the 
colony,  accompanied  with  most  injurious  imputa- 
tions on  the  conduct  of  Columbus  and  his  broth- 
er, who  were  loudly  accused  of  oppressing  both 
Spaniards  and  Indians,  and  of  sacrificing  the  public 
interests,  in  the  most  unscrupulous  manner,  to  their 
own.  These  complaints  were  rung  in  the  very  ears 
of  the  sovereigns  by  numbers  of  the  disaffected 
colonists,  who  had  returned  to  Spain,  and  who  sur- 
rounded the  king,  as  he  rode  out  on  horseback, 
clamoring  loudly  for  the  discharge  of  the  arrears,  of 
which  they  said  the  admiral  had  defrauded  them.18 

There  were  not  wanting,  even,  persons  of  high 
consideration  at  the  court,  to  give  credence  and  cir- 
culation to  these  calumnies.  The  recent  discovery 
of  the  pearl  fisheries  of  Paria,  as  well  as  of  more 
prolific  veins  of  the  precious  metals  in  Hispaniola, 
and  the  prospect  of  an  indefinite  extent  of  unex- 
plored country,  opened  by  the  late  voyage  of  Co- 

!7  Gomara,  Hist,  de  las  Indias,  fioz,  Hist,  del  Nuevo-Mundo,  lib.  6, 

cap.  20.  —  Benzoni,  Novi  Orbis  sec.  40-42. 

Hist.,  lib.  1,  cap.  10,  11. — Gari-  18  Garibay,  Compendio,  torn.  ii. 

bay,  Compendio,  torn.  ii.  lib.  19,  lib.  19,  cap.  7.  —  Peter  Martyr, 

cap.  7. — Fernando  Colon,  Hist.  De  Rebus  Oceanicis,  dec.  1,  Jib.  7. 

del  Almirante,  cap.  73-82.  — Peter  — Gomara,  Hist,  de  las  Indias.  cap. 

Martyr,  De  Rebus  Oceanicis,  dec.  23.  —  Benzoni,  Novi  Orbis  Hist., 

1 ,  lib.  5.— Herrera,  Indias  Occiden-  cap.  11. 

tales,  dec.  1,  lib.  3,  cap.  16.  — Mu-  Ferdinand  Columbus  mentions 


468 


PROGRESS  OF  DISCOVERY. 


lumbus,  made  the  viceroyalty  of  the  New  World  a 
tempting  bait  for  the  avarice  and  ambition  of  the 
most  potent  grandee.  They  artfully  endeavoured, 
therefore,  to  undermine  the  admiral's  credit  with 
the  sovereigns,  by  raising  in  their  minds  suspicions 
of  his  integrity,  founded  not  merely  on  vague  re- 
ports, but  on  letters  received  from  the  colony, 
charging  him  with  disloyalty,  with  appropriating  to 
his  own  use  the  revenues  of  the  island,  and  with 
the  design  of  erecting  an  independent  government 
for  himself.19 

Whatever  weight  these  absurd  charges  mav  have 
had  with  Ferdinand,  they  had  no  power  to  shake 
the  queen's  confidence  in  Columbus,  or  lead  her  to 
suspect  his  loyalty  for  a  moment.  But  the  long- 
continued  distractions  of  the  colony  made  her  feel 
a  natural  distrust  of  his  capacity  to  govern  it, 
whether  from  the  jealousy  entertained  of  him  as  a 
foreigner,  or  from  some  inherent  deficiency  in  his 
own  character.  These  doubts  were  mingled,  it  is 
true,  with  sterner  feelings  towards  the  admiral,  on 
the  arrival,  at  this  juncture,  of  several  of  the  rebels 


that  he  and  his  brother,  who  were 
then  pages  to  the  queen,  could  not 
stir  out  into  the  courtyard  of  the 
Alhambra,  without  being  followed 
by  fifty  of  these  vagabonds,  who 
insulted  them  in  the  grossest  man- 
ner, "  as  the  sons  of  the  adventur- 
er, who  had  led  so  many  brave 
Spanish  hidalgos  to  seek  their 
graves  in  the  land  of  vanity  and 
delusion  which  he  had  found  out." 
Hist,  del  Almirante,  cap.  85. 


19  Benzoni,  Novi  Orbis  Hist.,  lib. 
1,  cap.  12.  —  National  feeling  op- 
erated, no  doubt,  as  well  as  avarice 
to  sharpen  the  tooth  of  slander 
against  the  admiral.  "  JEpre  mul- 
ti  patiuntur,"  says  Columbus's 
countryman,  with  honest  warmth, 
"  peregrin um  hominem,  et  quidern 
e  nostra  Italia  ortum,  tantum  hon- 
oris ac  gloria?  eonsequutum,  ot  non 
tantum  Hispanieae  gentis,  sed  et 
cujusvis  alterius  homines  superave- 
rit."    Benzoni,  lib.  l,cap.  5. 


TREATMENT  OF  COLUMBUS. 


469 


with  the  Indian  slaves  assigned  to  them  by  his  chapter 
orders.20  VI" 
It  was  the  received  opinion  among  good  Catho-  Bigoted 

1  0  views  in 

lies  of  that  period,  that  heathen  and  barbarous  JJJJ^' 
nations  were  placed  by  the  circumstance  of  their  in- 
fidelity without  the  pale  both  of  spiritual  and  civil 
lights.  Their  souls  were  doomed  to  eternal  perdi- 
tion. Their  bodies  were  the  property  of  the  Chris- 
tian nation  who  should  occupy  their  soil.21  Such, 
in  brief,  were  the  profession  and  the  practice  of  the 
most  enlightened  Europeans  of  the  fifteenth  centu- 
ry ;  and  such  the  deplorable  maxims  which  regulat- 
ed the  intercourse  of  the  Spanish  and  Portuguese 
navigators  with  the  uncivilized  natives  of  the  west- 
ern world.22    Columbus,  agreeably  to  these  views, 


20  Herrera,  Indias  Occidentals, 
lib.  4,  cap.  7,  10,  and  more  espe- 
cially lib.  6,  cap.  13.  —  LasCasas, 
CEuvres,  ed.  de  Llorente,  torn  i.  p. 
306. 

21 11  Laqualite  de  Catholique  Ro- 
main,"  says  the  philosophic  Vil- 
lers,  "  avait  tout-a-fait  remplace 
celle  d'homme,  et  meme  de  Chre- 
tien. Qui  n'etait  pas  Catholique 
Romain,  n'etait  pas  homme,  etait 
moins  qu'homme  ;  et  eut-il  ete  un 
souverain,  e'etait  une  bonne  action 
que  de  lui  oter  la  vie."  (Essai  sur 
la  Reformation,  p.  56.  ed.  1820.) 
Las  Casas  rests  the  title  of  the 
Spanish  crown  to  its  American  pos- 
sessions on  the  original  papal  grant, 
made  on  condition  of  converting-  the 
natives  to  Christianity.  The  pope, 
as  vicar  of  Jesus  Christ,  possesses 
plenary  authority  over  all  men  for 
the  safety  of  their  souls.  He  might, 
therefore,  in  furtherance  of  this, 
confer  on  the  Spanish  sovereigns 
imperial  supremacy  over  all  lands 
discovered  by  them,  —  not,  how- 


ever, to  the  prejudice  of  author- 
ities already  existing  there,  and 
over  such  nations  only  as  volun- 
tarily embraced  Christianity.  Such 
is  the  sum  of  his  thirty  proposi- 
tions, submitted  to  the  council 
of  the  Indies  for  the  inspection 
of  Charles  V.  (CEuvres,  ed.  de 
Llorente,  torn.  i.  pp.  286-311.) 
One  may  see  in  these  arbitrary  and 
whimsical  limitations,  the  good 
bishop's  desire  to  reconcile  what 
reason  told  him  were  the  natural 
rights  of  man,  with  what  faith  pre- 
scribed as  the  legitimate  prerogative 
of  the  pope.  Few  Roman  Catholics 
at  the  present  day  will  be  found 
sturdy  enough  to  maintain  this  lofty 
prerogative,  however  carefully  lim- 
ited. Still  fewer  in  the  sixteenth 
century  would  have  challenged  it. 
Indeed,  it  is  but  just  to  Las  Casas, 
to  admit,  that  the  general  scope 
of  his  arguments,  here  and  else- 
where, is  very  far  in  advance  of  his 
age. 

22  A  Spanish  casuist  founds  the 


470 


PROGRESS  OF  DISCOVERY. 


part  had,  very  soon  after  the  occupation  of  Hispaniola, 
— ' —  recommended  a  regular  exchange  of  slaves  for  the 
commodities  required  for  the  support  of  the  colony  ; 
representing,  moreover,  that  in  this  way  their  con- 
version would  be  more  surely  effected,  —  an  object, 
it  must  be  admitted,  which  he  seems  to  have  ever 
had  most  earnestly  at  heart. 
More  liberal      Isabella,  however,  entertained  views  on  this  mat- 

eentiments  '  7 

of  Isabella,  ter  faY  more  liberal  than  those  of  her  age.  She  had 
been  deeply  interested  by  the  accounts  she  had  re- 
ceived from  the  admiral  himself  of  the  gentle,  unof- 
fending character  of  the  islanders  ;  and  she  revolted 
at  the  idea  of  consigning  them  to  the  horrors  of 
slavery,  without  even  an  effort  for  their  conversion. 
She  hesitated,  therefore,  to  sanction  his  proposal ; 
and  when  a  number  of  Indian  captives  were  adver- 
tised to  be  sold  in  the  markets  of  Andalusia,  she 
commanded  the  sale  to  be  suspended,  till  the  opin- 
ion of  a  counsel  of  theologians  and  doctors,  learned 
in  such  matters,  could  be  obtained,  as  to  its  consci- 
entious lawfulness.  She  yielded  still  further  to  the 
benevolent  impulses  of  her  nature,  causing  holy 
men  to  be  instructed  as  far  as  possible  in  the  Indian 
languages,  and  sent  out  as  missionaries  for  the  con- 
version of  the  natives.23  Some  of  them,  as  Father 
Boil  and  his  brethren,  seem,  indeed,  to  have  been 


right  of  his  nation  to  enslave  the 
Indians,  among  other  things,  on 
their  smoking  tobacco,  and  not  trim- 
ming their  beards  a  VEspagnole. 
At  least,  this  is  Montesquieu's 
interpretation  of  it.  (Esprit  des 
Loix,  lib.  15,  chap.  3.)    The  doc- 


tors of  the  Inquisition  2ould  hardly 
have  found  a  better  reason. 

23  Mufioz,  Hist,  del  Nuevo-Mun 
do,  lib.  5,  sec  34.  —  Navarrele, 
Coleccion  de  Viages,  torn.  ii.  Doc. 
Dipl.,  no.  92.  — Herrera,  Indias  Or- 
cidentales,  lib.  3,  cap.  4. 


TREATMENT  OF  COLUMBUS. 


471 


more  concerned  for  the  welfare  of  their  own  bodies,  chapter 

than  for  the  souls  of  their  benighted  flock.    But  — —  

others,  imbued  with  a  better  spirit,  wrought  in  the 
good  work  with  disinterested  zeal,  and,  if  we  may 
credit  their  accounts,  with  some  efficacy. 24 

In  the  same  beneficent  spirit,  the  royal  letters  she  sends 

.  back  the  Ia- 

and  ordinances  urged  over  and  over  again  the  para-  diaQ slave* 
mount  obligation  of  the  religious  instruction  of  the 
natives,  and  of  observing  the  utmost  gentleness  and 
humanity  in  all  dealings  with  them.  When,  there- 
fore, the  queen  learned  the  arrival  of  two  vessels 
from  the  Indies,  with  three  hundred  slaves  on  board, 
which  the  admiral  had  granted  to  the  mutineers, 
she  could  not  repress  her  indignation,  but  impa- 
tiently asked,  "  By  what  authority  does  Columbus  isoo 
venture  thus  to  dispose  of  my  subjects  ?  "  She 
instantly  caused  proclamation  to  be  made  in  the 
southern  provinces,  that  all  who  had  Indian  slaves 
in  their  possession,  granted  by  the  admiral,  should 
forthwith  provide  for  their  return  to  their  own 
country  ;  while  the  few,  still  held  by  the  crown, 
wrere  to  be  restored  to  freedom  in  like  manner.  25 

After  a  long  and  visible  reluctance,  the  queen  Authority  *> 

&  ...  Bobadillu. 

acquiesced  in  sending  out  a  commissioner  to  inves- 


24  "  Among  other  things  that 
the  holy  fathers  carried  out,"  says 
Robles,  "  was  a  little  organ  and 
several  bells,  which  greatly  de- 
lighted the  simple  people,  so  that 
from  one  to  two  thousand  persons 
were  baptized  every  day."  (Vida 
de  Ximenez,  p.  120.) 

Ferdinand  Columbus  remarks 
with  some  ndiuctk,  that  "  the  In- 
dians were  so  obedient  from  their 


fear  of  the  admiral,  and  at  the 
same  time  so  desirous  to  oblige 
him,  that  they  voluntarily  became 
Christians ! ' '  Hist,  del  Almirante, 
cap.  84. 

25  Herrera,  Indias  Occidentals, 
lib.  4,  cap.  7.  —  Navarrete,  Colec- 
cion  de  Viages,  torn.  ii.  Doc.  Dipl., 
no.  134. 

Las  Casas  observes,  that  "  so 
great  was  the  queen's  indignation 


472 


PROGRESS  OF  DISCOVERY. 


part     tigate  the  affairs  of  the  colony.    The  person  ap- 

 - — ■  pointed  to  this  delicate  trust,  was  Don  Francisco  de 

Bobadilla,  a  poor  knight  of  Calatrava.  He  was  in- 
vested with  supreme  powers  of  civil  and  criminal 
jurisdiction.  He  was  to  bring  to  trial  and  pass 
sentence  on  all  such  as  had  conspired  against  the 
authority  of  Columbus.  He  was  authorized  to  take 
possession  of  the  fortresses,  vessels,  public  stores, 
and  property  of  every  description,  to  dispose  of  all 
offices,  and  to  command  whatever  persons  he  might 
deem  expedient  for  the  tranquillity  of  the  island, 
without  distinction  of  rank,  to  return  to  Spain,  and 
present  themselves  before  the  sovereigns.  Such, 
in  brief,  was  the  sum  of  the  extraordinary  powers 
intrusted  to  Bobadilla.26 
outrage  on       It  is  impossible  now  to  determine  what  motives 

Columbus.  1 

could  have  led  to  the  selection  of  so  incompetent  an 
agent,  for  an  office  of  such  high  responsibility.  He 
seems  to  have  been  a  weak  and  arrogant  man, 
swelled  up  with  unmeasurable  insolence  by  the 
brief  authority  thus  undeservedly  bestowed  on  him. 
From  the  very  first,  he  regarded  Columbus  in  the 
light  of  a  convicted  criminal,  on  whom  it  was  his 
business  to  execute  the  sentence  of  the  law.  Ac- 
cordingly, on  his  arrival  at  the  island,  after  an 


at  the  admiral's  misconduct  in  this 
particular,  that  nothing  but  the 
consideration  of  his  great  public 
services  saved  him  from  imme- 
diate disgrace."  CEuvres,  ed.  de 
Llorente,  torn.  i.  p.  306. 

20  Navarrete,  Coleccion  de  Via- 
ges,  torn.  ii.  Doc.  Dipl.  nos.  127- 
130.    The  original  commission  to 


Bobadilla  was  dated  March  21st, 
and  May  21st,  1499;  the  execution 
of  it,  however,  was  delayed  until 
July,  1500,  in  the  hope,  doubtless, 
of  obtaining  such  tidings  from  His- 
paniola  as  sbould  obviate  the  neces- 
sity of  a  measure  so  prejudicial  to 
the  admiral. 


TREATMENT  OF  COLUMBUS. 


473 


ostentatious  parade  of  his  credentials,  he  command-  chapter 
ed  the  admiral  to  appear  before  him,  and,  without  VIIL 
affecting  the  forms  of  a  legal  inquiry,  at  once  caused  lA5n®!^ 
him  to  be  manacled,  and  thrown  into  prison.  Co- 
lumbus submitted  without  the  least  show  of  resist- 
ance, displaying  in  this  sad  reverse  that  magnanim- 
ity of  soul,  which  would  have  touched  the  heart 
of  a  generous  adversary.  Bobadilla,  however,  dis- 
covered no  such  sensibility ;  and,  after  raking  to- 
gether all  the  foul  or  frivolous  calumnies,  which 
hatred  or  the  hope  of  favor  could  extort,  he  caused 
the  whole  loathsome  mass  of  accusation  to  be  sent 
back  to  Spain  with  the  admiral,  whom  he  com- 
manded to  be  kept  strictly  in  irons  during  the  pas- 
sage;  "  afraid,"  says  Ferdinand  Columbus  bitterly, 
"  lest  he  might  by  any  chance  swim  back  again  to 
the  island."27 

This  excess  of  malice  served,  as  usual,  however, 
to  defeat  itself.  So  enormous  an  outrage  shocked 
the  minds  of  those  most  prejudiced  against  Colum- 
bus. All  seemed  to  feel  it  as  a  national  dishonor, 
that  such  indignities  should  be  heaped  on  the  man, 
who,  whatever  might  be  his  indiscretions,  had  done 
so  much  for  Spain,  and  for  the  whole  civilized 
world  ;  a  man,  who,  in  the  honest  language  of  an 
old  writer,  "  had  he  lived  in  the  days  of  ancient 
Greece  or  Rome,  would  have  had  statues  raised, 


W  Fernando  Colon,  Hist,  del  Al- 
lnirante,  cap.  86.  — Garibay,  Com- 
pendio,  torn.  ii.  lib.  19,  cap.  7. — 
Peter  Martyr,  De  Rebus  Oceanicis, 
dec.  1,  lib.  7. —  Gomara,  Hist,  de- 


bs Tndias,  cap.  23.  —  Herrera,  In- 
dias  Occidentals,  lib.  4,  cap.  10. — 
Benzoni,  Novi  Orbis  Hist.,  lib.  1, 
cap.  12. 


VOL.  II. 


60 


474 


PROGRESS  OF  DISCOVERY. 


part  and  temples  and  divine  honors  dedieated  to  him,  as 
 —  to  a  divinity  !" 28 

Deepj-egret  None  partook  of  the  general  indignation  more 
sovereign.  strong]y  tnan  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  who,  in  addi- 
tion to  their  personal  feelings  of  disgust  at  so  gross 
an  act,  readily  comprehended  the  whole  weight  of 
obloquy,  which  its  perpetration  must  necessarily  at- 
tach to  them.  They  sent  to  Cadiz  without  an 
instant's  delay,  and  commanded  the  admiral  to  be 
released  from  his  ignominious  fetters.  They  wrote 
to  him  in  the  most  benignant  terms,  expressing 
their  sincere  regret  for  the  unworthy  usage  which 
he  had  experienced,  and  requesting  him  to  appear 
before  them  as  speedily  as  possible,  at  Granada, 
where  the  court  was  then  staying.  At  the  same 
time,  they  furnished  him  a  thousand  ducats  for  his 
expenses,  and  a  handsome  retinue  to  escort  him  on 
his  journey. 

coiumbus of  Columbus,  revived  by  these  assurances  of  the 
kind  dispositions  of  his  sovereigns,  proceeded  with- 
out delay  to  Granada,  which  he  reached  on  the  17th 
1  500.  of  December.  Immediately  on  his  arrival  he  ob- 
tained an  audience.  The  queen  could  not  repress 
her  tears  at  the  sight  of  the  man,  whose  illustrious 
services  had  met  with  such  ungenerous  requital,  as 
it  were,  at  her  own  hands.  She  endeavoured  to 
cheer  his  wounded  spirit  writh  the  most  earnest 


28  Benzoni,  Novi  Orbis  Hist., 
lib.  1,  cap.  12. — Herrera,  Indias 
Occidentals,  lib.  6,  cap.  15. 

Ferdinand  Columbus  tells  us, 
that  his  father  kept  the  fetters  in 
which  he  was  brought  home,  hang- 


ing up  in  an  apartment  of  his  house, 
as  a  perpetual  memorial  of  national 
ingratitude,  and,  when  he  died 
ordered  them  to  be  buried  in  the 
same  grave  with  himself.  Hist, 
del  Almirante,  cap.  86. 


TREATMENT  OF  COLUMBUS. 


475 


assurances  of  her  sympathy  and  sorrow  for  his  mis-  chapter 
fortunes.  Columbus,  from  the  first  moment  of  his  ■ 
disgrace,  had  relied  on  the  good  faith  and  kindness 
of  Isabella  ;  for,  as  an  ancient  Castilian  writer  re- 
marks, "  she  had  ever  favored  him  beyond  the  king 
her  husband,  protecting  his  interests,  and  showing 
him  especial  kindness  and  good-will."  When  he 
beheld  the  emotion  of  his  royal  mistress,  and  lis- 
tened to  her  consolatory  language,  it  was  too  much 
for  his  loyal  and  generous  heart ;  and,  throwing 
hiriiself  on  his  knees,  he  gave  vent  to  his  feelings, 
and  sobbed  aloud.  The  sovereigns  endeavoured  to 
soothe  and  tranquillize  his  mind,  and,  after  testify- 
ing their  deep  sense  of  his  injuries,  promised  him, 
that  impartial  justice  should  be  done  his  enemies, 
and  that  he  should  be  reinstated  in  his  emoluments 
and  honors.29 

Much  censure  has  attached  to  the  Spanish  gov-  vindication 

r  °  of  the  sove- 

ernment  for  its  share  in  this  unfortunate  transac-  reiglls 
tion  ;  both  in  the  appointment  of  so  unsuitable  an 
agent  as  Bobadilla,  and  the  delegation  of  such 
broad  and  indefinite  powers.  With  regard  to  the 
first,  it  is  now  too  late,  as  has  already  been  re- 
marked, to  ascertain  on  what  grounds  such  a  selec- 
tion could  have  been  made.  There  is  no  evidence 
of  his  being  indebted  for  his  promotion  to  intrigue 
or  any  undue  influence.  Indeed,  according  to  the 
testimony  of  one  of  his  contemporaries,  he  was 

2^  Garibay,  Compendio,  torn.  ii.  rante,  cap.  86,  87.  —  Herrera,  in- 
lib.  19,  cap.  7.  —  Peter  Martyr,  De  dias  Occidentales,  dec.  1,  lib.,4,  cap. 
Rebus  Oceanicis,  dec.  1,  lib.  7.—  8-  10.—  Benzoni,  NoviOrbis  Hist ., 
Fernando  Colon,  Hist,  del  Almi-  lib.  1,  cap.  12. 


■176 


PROGRESS  OF  DISCOVERY. 


fart    reputed  "an  extremely  honest  and  religious  manv, 

 and  the  good  bishop  Las  Casas  expressly  declares, 

that  "  no  imputation  of  dishonesty  or  avarice  had 
ever  rested  on  his  character."30  It  was  an  error  of 
judgment ;  a  grave  one,  indeed,  and  must  pass  for 
as  much  as  it  is  worth. 

But  in  regard  to  the  second  charge,  of  delegat- 
ing unwarrantable  powers,  it  should  be  remem- 
bered, that  the  grievances  of  the  colony  were  rep- 
resented as  of  a  most  pressing  nature,  demanding 
a  prompt  and  peremptory  remedy ;  that  a  more 
limited  and  partial  authority,  dependent  for  its 
exercise  on  instructions  from  the  government  at 
home,  might  be  attended  with  ruinous  delays ;  that 
this  authority  must  necessarily  be  paramount  to 
that  of  Columbus,  who  was  a  party  implicated  , 
and  that,  although  unlimited  jurisdiction  was  given 
over  all  offences  committed  against  him,  yet  neither 
he  nor  his  friends  were  to  be  molested  in  any  other 
way  than  by  temporary  suspension  from  office,  and 
a  return  to  their  own  country,  where  the  merits  of 
their  case  might  be  submitted  to  the  sovereigns 
themselves. 

This  view  of  the  matter,  indeed,  is  perfectly 
conformable  to  that  of  Ferdinand  Columbus,  whose 
solicitude,  so  apparent  in  every  page,  for  his 
father's  reputation,  must  have  effectually  coun- 
terbalanced any  repugnance  he  may  have  felt  at 
impugning  the  conduct  of  his  sovereigns.  "  The 
only  ground  of  complaint,"  he  remarks,  in  sum- 

30  Oviedo,  Hist.  Gen.  de  las  sas,  lib.  2,  cap.  6,  apud  Navarrete, 
Ind.,  P.  1,  lib.  3,  cap.  6.  —  Las  Ca-    torn,  i.,  introd.,  p.  99. 


TREATMENT  OF  COLUMBUS. 


477 


ming  up  his  narrative  of  the  transaction,  "  which  chapter 
I  can  bring  against  their  Catholic  Highnesses  is,  .  vm" 
the  unfitness  of  the  agent  whom  they  employed, 
equally  malicious  and  ignorant.  Had  they  sent 
out  a  suitable  person,  the  admiral  would  have  been 
highly  gratified  ;  since  he  had  more  than  once  re- 
quested the  appointment  of  some  one  with  full 
powers  of  jurisdiction  in  an  affair,  where  he  felt 
some  natural  delicacy  in  moving,  in  consequence 
of  his  own  brother  having  been  originally  involved 
in  it."  And,  as  to  the  vast  magnitude  of  the 
powers  intrusted  to  Bobadilla,  he  adds,  "  It  can 
scarcely  be  wondered  at,  considering  the  manifold 
complaints  against  the  admiral  made  to  their  High- 
nesses."31 

Although  the  king  and  queen  determined  with- 
out hesitation  on  the  complete  restoration  of  the 
admiral's  honors,  they  thought  it  better  to  defer  his 
reappointment  to  the  government  of  the  colony, 
until  the  present  disturbances  should  be  settled, 
and  he  might  return  there  with  personal  safety  and 
advantage.  In  the  mean  time,  they  resolved  to 
send  out  a  competent  individual,  and  to  support 
him  with  such  a  force  as  should  overawe  faction, 
and  enable  him  to  place  the  tranquillity  of  the 
island  on  a  permanent  basis. 

The  person  selected  was  Don  Nicolas  de  Ovan-  commisgion 

1  to  Ovando. 

do,  comendador  of  Lares,  of  the  military  order  of 
Alcantara.  He  was  a  man  of  acknowledged  pru- 
dence and  sagacity,  temperate  in  his  habits,  and 


31  Fernando  Colon,  Hist,  del  Almirante,  cap.  86 


478 


PROGRESS  OF  DISCOVERY. 


part     plausible  and  politic  in  his  address.    It  is  sufficient 

 - —  evidence  of  his  standing  at  court,  that  he  had  been 

one  of  the  ten  youths  selected  to  be  educated  in 
the  palace  as  companions  for  the  prince  of  the 
Asturias.  He  was  furnished  with  a  fleet  of  two 
and  thirty  sail,  carrying  twenty-five  hundred  per- 
sons, many  of  them  of  the  best  families  in  the 
kingdom,  with  every  variety  of  article  for  the  nour- 
ishment and  permanent  prosperity  of  the  colony ; 
and  the  general  equipment  was  in  a  style  of  ex- 
pense and  magnificence,  such  as  had  never  before 
been  lavished  on  any  armada  destined  for  the 
western  waters.32 
Idoi.       The  new  governor  was  instructed  immediately 

8ept'  on  his  arrival  to  send  Bobadilla  home  for  trial. 
Under  his  lax  administration,  abuses  of  every  kind 
had  multiplied  to  an  alarming  extent,  and  the  poor 
natives,  in  particular,  were  rapidly  wasting  away 
under  the  new  and  most  inhuman  arrangement  of 
the  repartimientos,  which  he  established.  Isabella 
now  declared  the  Indians  free  ;  and  emphatically 
enjoined  on  the  authorities  of  Hispaniola  to  respect 
them  as  true  and  faithful  vassals  of  the  crown. 
Ovando  was  especially  to  ascertain  the  amount  of 
losses  sustained  by  Columbus  and  his  brothers,  tc 
provide  for  their  full  indemnification,  and  to  secure 
the  unmolested  enjoyment  in  future  of  all  their 
lawful  rights  and  pecuniary  perquisites.33 

32  Herrera,  Indias  Occidentales,  33  Herrera,  Indias  Occidentals, 

dec.  1,  lib.  4,  cap.  11. —Fernando  lib.  4,  cap.  11-13.  —  Navarrete, 

Colon,  Hist,  del  Almirante,  cap.  Coleccion  de  Viages,  torn,  ii.,  Doc. 

87.  —  Benzoni,  Novi  Orbis  Hist.,  Dipl.,  nos.  138,   144.  —  Fernando 

lib.  1,  cap.  12. —Mem.  de  la  Acad.  Colon,  Hist,  del  Almirante,  can. 

de  Hist.,  torn.  vi.  p.  385.  87. 


TREATMENT  OF  COLUMBUS. 


479 


Fortified  with  the  most  ample  instructions  in  chapter 

legard  to  these  and  other  details  of  his  administra  ' — 

lion,  the  governor  embarked  on  board  his  magnifi- 
cent flotilla,  and  crossed  the  bar  of  St.  Lucar, 
February  loth,  1502.  A  furious  tempest  dispersed 
the  fleet,  before  it  had  been  out  a  week,  and  a 
report  reached  Spain  that  it  had  entirely  perished. 
The  sovereigns,  overwhelmed  with  sorrow  at  this 
fresh  disaster,  which  consigned  so  many  of  their  best 
and  bravest  to  a  watery  grave,  shut  themselves  up 
in  their  palace  for  several  days.  Fortunately,  the 
report  proved  ill-founded.  The  fleet  rode  out  the 
storm  in  safety,  one  vessel  only  having  perished, 
and  the  remainder  reached  in  due  time  its  place  of 
destination.34 

The  Spanish  government  has  been  roundly  taxed  Grounds 

10  J  imputations 

with  injustice  and  ingratitude  for  its  delay  in  re-  emneif" "~ 
storing  Columbus  to  the  full  possession  of  his  colo- 
nial authority ;  and  that  too  by  writers  generally 
distinguished  for  candor  and  impartiality.  No  such 
animadversion,  however,  as  far  as  I  am  aware,  is 
countenanced  by  contemporary  historians  ;  and  it 
appears  to  be  wholly  undeserved.  Independent  of 
the  obvious  inexpediency  of  returning  him  immedi- 
ately to  the  theatre  of  disaffection,  before  the  em- 
bers of  ancient  animosity  had  had  time  to  cool, 
there  were  several  features  in  his  character,  which 
make  it  doubtful  whether  he  were  the  most  compe- 
tent person,  in  any  event,  for  an  emergency  de- 
manding at  once  the  greatest  coolness,  consummate 

34  Herrera,  Tndias  Occidentals,  lib.  5,  cap.  1. 


480 


PROGRESS  OF  DISCOVERY. 


part  address,  and  acknowledged  personal  authority.  Hi* 
-----  sublime  enthusiasm,  which  carried  him  victorious 
over  every  obstacle,  involved  him  also  in  numerous 
embarrassments,  which  men  of  more  phlegmatic 
temperament  would  have  escaped.  It  led  him  to 
count  too  readily  on  a  similar  spirit  in  others, —  and 
to  be  disappointed.  It  gave  an  exaggerated  coloring 
to  his  views  and  descriptions,  that  inevitably  led  to 
a  reaction  in  the  minds  of  such  as  embarked  their 
all  on  the  splendid  dreams  of  a  fairy  land,  which 
they  were  never  to  realize,85  Hence  a  fruitful 
source  of  discontent  and  disaffection  in  his  follow- 
ers. It  led  him,  in  his  eagerness  for  the  achieve- 
ment of  his  great  enterprises,  to  be  less  scrupulous 
and  politic  as  to  the  means,  than  a  less  ardent  spirit 
would  have  been.  His  pertinacious  adherence  to 
the  scheme  of  Indian  slavery,  and  his  impolitic 
regulation  compelling  the  labor  of  the  hidalgos,  are 
pertinent  examples  of  this.36    He  was,  moreover, 


35  The  high  devotional  feeling  actual  provision  for  it  in  his  testa- 
of  Columbus,  led  him  to  trace  out  ment.  This  was  a  flight,  however, 
allusions  in  Scripture  to  the  various  beyond  the  spirit  even  of  this  ro- 
circumstances  and  scenes  of  his  ad-  mantic  age,  and  probably  received 
venturous  life.  Thus  he  believed  as  little  serious  attention  from  the 
his  great  discovery  announced  in  queen,  as  from  her  more  cool  and 
the  Apocalypse,  and  in  Isaiah  ;  he  calculating  husband.  Peter  Mar- 
identified,  as  I  have  before  stated,  tyr,  De  Rebus  Oceanicis,  dec.  1, 
the  mines  of  Hispaniola  with  those  lib.  6.. —  Tercer  Viage  de  Colon, 
which  furnished  Solomon  with  ma-  apud  Navarrete,  Coleccion  de  Via- 
tcrials  for  his  temple  ;  he  fancied  ges,  torn.  i.  p.  259. — torn,  ii.,  Doc. 
that  he  had  determined  the  actual  Dipl.,  no.  140.  —  Herrera,  India* 
locality  of  the  garden  of  Eden  in  Occidentales,  lib.  6,  cap.  15. 
the  newly  discovered  region  of  36  Another  example  was  the  in- 
Paria.  But  his  greatest  extrava-  judicious  punishment  of  delinquents 
gance  was  his  project  of  a  crusade  by  diminishing  their  regular  allow- 
for  the  recovery  of  the  Holy  Sep-  ance  of  food,  a  measure  so  obnox- 
ulchre.  This  he  cherished  from  ious  as  to  call  for  the  interference 
the  first  hour  of  his  discovery,  of  the  sovereigns,  who  prohibited 
pressing  it  in  the  most  urgent  man-  it  altogether.  (Navarrete,  Colec- 
ner  on  the  sovereigns,  and  making  cion  de  Viages,  torn,  ii.,  Doc.  Dipl., 


TREATMENT  OF  COLUMBUS. 


481 


a  foreigner,  without  rank,  fortune,   or  powerful  chapter 

friends  ;  and  his  high  and  sudden  elevation  naturally     VI!I  . 

raised  him  up  a  thousand  enemies  among  a  proud, 
punetilious,  and  intensely  national  people.  Under 
these  multiplied  embarrassments,  resulting  from  pe- 
culiarities of  character  and  situation,  the  sovereigns 
might  well  be  excused  for  not  intrusting  Columbus, 
at  this  delicate  crisis,  with  disentangling  the  meshes 
of  intrigue  and  faction,  in  which  the  affairs  of  the 
colony  were  so  unhappily  involved. 

I  trust  these  remarks  will  not  be  construed  into 
an  insensibility  to  the  merits  and  exalted  services 
of  Columbus.  "  A  world,"  to  borrow  the  words, 
though  not  the  application  of  the  Greek  historian, 
"  is  his  monument."  His  virtues  shine  with  too 
bright  a  lustre  to  be  dimmed  by  a  few  natural 
blemishes ;  but  it  becomes  necessary  to  notice 
these,  to  vindicate  the  Spanish  government  from 
the  imputation  of  perfidy  and  ingratitude,  where  it 
has  been  most  freely  urged,  and  apparently  with 
the  least  foundation. 

It  is  more  difficult  to  excuse  the  paltry  equip- 
ment with  which  the  admiral  was  suffered  to 
undertake  his  fourth  and  last  voyage.  The  object 
proposed  by  this  expedition  was  the  discovery  of 
a  passage  to  the  great  Indian  Ocean,  which,  he 
inferred  sagaciously  enough   from    his  premises, 

97.)    Herrera,  who  must  be  ad-  that,  "  with  every  allowance  for 

mitted  to  have  been  in  no  degree  calumny,  they  must  be  confessed 

insensible  to  the  merits  of  Colum-  not  to  have  governed  the  Castilians 

bus,  closes  his  account  of  the  vari-  with   the   moderation    that  they 

ous  accusations  urged  against  him  ought  to  have  done."    Indias  Oc- 

and  his  brothers,  with  the  remark,  cidentales,  lib.  4,  cap.  9. 

VOL.  II  61 


482 


fROGRESS  OF  DISCOVERY. 


though,  as  it  turned  out,  to  the  great  inconven- 
ience of  the  commercial  world,  most  erroneously, 
must  open  somewhere  between  Cuba  and  the  coast 
of  Paria.  Four  caravels,  only,  were  furnished  for 
the  expedition,  the  largest  of  which  did  not  exceed 
seventy  tons'  burden  ;  a  force  forming  a  striking 
contrast  to  the  magnificent  armada  lately  intrusted 
to  Ovando,  and  altogether  too  insignificant  to  be 
vindicated  on  the  ground  of  the  different  objects 
proposed  by  the  two  expeditions.37 

Columbus,  oppressed  with  growing  infirmities, 
and  a  consciousness,  perhaps,  of  the  decline  of 
popular  favor,  manifested  unusual  despondency  pre- 
viously to  his  embarkation.  He  talked,  even,  of 
resigning  the  task  of  further  discovery  to  his  broth- 
er Bartholomew.  "  I  have  established,"  said  he, 
"  all  that  I  proposed,  —  the  existence  of  land  in 
the  west.  I  have  opened  the  gate,  and  others  may 
enter  at  their  pleasure  ;  as  indeed  they  do,  arrogat- 
ing to  themselves  the  title  of  discoverers,  to  which 
they  can  have  little  claim,  following  as  they  do  in 
my  track."  He  little  thought  the  ingratitude  of 
mankind  would  sanction  the  claims  of  these  adven- 
turers so  far  as  to  confer  the  name  of  one  of  them 
on  that  world,  which  his  genius  had  revealed.38 


37  Garihay,  Compendio,  torn.  ii. 
lib.  19,  cap.  14.  —  Fernando  Co- 
lon, Hist,  del  Almirante,  cap.  88. 
—  Herrera,  Indias  Occidentals, 
lib.  5,  cap.  1.  —  Benzoni,  Novi 
Orbia  Hist.,  cap.  14. 

It  would  be  going  out  of  our 
way  to  investigate  the  pretensions 
of  Amerigo  Vespucci  to  the  hon- 
or of  first  discovering  the  South 


American  continent.  The  reader 
will  find  them  displayed  with  per- 
spicuity and  candor  by  Mr.  Tr- 
ving,  in  his  "Life  of  Columbus/' 
(Appendix,  No.  9.)  Few  will  be 
disposed  to  contest  the  author's 
conclusion  respecting  their  fallacy, 
though  all  may  not  have  the  same 
charity  as  he,  in  tracing  its  possi- 
ble origin  to  an  editorial  blunder 


TREATMENT  OF  COLUMBUS.  483 


VIII. 

His  fourth 
and  last 
voyage. 


The  great  inclination,  however,  which  the  admi-  chapter 
ral  had  to  serve  the  Catholic  sovereigns,  and  es- 
pecially the  most  serene  queen,  says  Ferdinand 

and  last 

Columbus,  induced  him  to  lay  aside  his  scruples, 
and  encounter  the  perils  and  fatigues  of  another 
voyage.  A  few  weeks  before  his  departure,  he 
received  a  gracious  letter  from  Ferdinand  and 
Isabella,  the  last  ever  addressed  to  him  by  his  royal 
mistress,  assuring  him  of  their  purpose  to  maintain 
inviolate  all  their  engagements  with  him,  and  to 
perpetuate  the  inheritance  of  his  honors  in  his  fam- 
ily.89   Comforted  and  cheered  by  these  assurances, 


instead  of  wilful  fabrication  on  the 
part  of  Vespucci ;  in  which  light, 
indeed,  it  seems  to  have  been  re- 
garded by  the  two  most  ancient  and 
honest  historians  of  the  event,  Las 
Casas  and  Herrera. 

Mr.  Irving's  conclusions,  how- 
ever, have  since  been  confirmed,  in 
the  fullest  manner,  by  M.  de  Hum- 
boldt, in  the  fifth  volume  of  his 
"  Geographic  du  Nouveau  Conti- 
nent," published  in  1839,  a  year 
after  the  preceding  portion  of  this 
note  was  first  printed  ;  in  which  he 
has  assembled  a  mass  of  testimony, 
suggesting  the  most  favorable  im- 
pressions of  Vespucci's  innocence 
of  the  various  charges  brought 
against  him. 

Since  the  appearance  of  Mr.  Ir- 
ving's  work,  Sefior  Navarrete  has 
published  the  third  volume  of  his 
"  Coleccion  de  Viages  y  Descubri- 
mientos,"  &c,  containing,  among 
other  things,  the  original  letters  re- 
cording Vespucci's  American  voy- 
ages, illustrated  by  all  the  author- 
ities and  facts,  that  could  come 
within  the  scope  of  his  indefatiga- 
ble researches.  The  whole  weight 
of  evidence  leads  irresistibly  to  the 


conviction,  that  Columbus  is  en- 
titled to  the  glory  of  being  the  origi- 
nal discoverer  of  the  southern  con- 
tinent, as  well  as  islands,  of  the 
western  hemisphere.  (Coleccion 
de  Viages,  torn.  iii.  pp.  183-334.) 

In  addition  to  the  preceding  wri- 
ters, the  American  reader  will  find 
the  claims  of  Vespucci  discussed, 
with  much  ingenuity  and  careful 
examination  of  authorities,  by  Mr. 
Cushing,  in  his  "Reminiscences 
of  Spain,"  Vol.  ii.pp.  210  et  seq. 

39  Fernando  Colon,  Hist,  del  Al- 
mirante,  cap.  87. —  Herrera  notices 
this  letter,  written,  he  says,  "con 
tanta  humanidad,  que  parecia  ex- 
traordinaria  de  lo  que  usavan  con 
otros,  y  no  sin  razon,  pues  jamas 
nadie  les  hizo  tal  servicio."  Indias 
Occidentales,  lib.  5,  cap.  1. 

Among  other  instances  of  the 
queen's  personal  regard  for  Colum- 
bus, may  be  noticed  her  receiving 
his  two  sons,  Diego  and  Fernando, 
as  her  own  pages,  on  the  death  of 
Prince  John,  in  whose  service  they 
had  formerly  been.  (Navarrete, 
Coleccion  de'Viages,  torn,  ii.,  Doc. 
Dipl.,  125.) 


484 


PROGRESS  OF  DISCOVERY. 


part     the  veteran  navigator,  quitting  the  port  of  Cadiz, 

__1  on  the  9th  of  March,  1502,  once  more  spread  his 

sails  for  those  golden  regions,  which  he  had  ap- 
proached so  near,  but  was  destined  never  to  reach. 

Remarkable      It  will  not  be  necessary  to  pursue  his  course  fur- 
rate  of  his  *  1 
enemies.      tner  tnan  t0  notice  a  single  occurrence  of  most 

extraordinary  nature.  The  admiral  had  received 
instructions  not  to  touch  at  Hispaniola  on  his  out- 
ward voyage.  The  leaky  condition  of  one  of  his 
ships,  however,  and  the  signs  of  an  approaching 
storm,  induced  him  to  seek  a  temporary  refuge 
there  ;  at  the  same  time,  he  counselled  Ovando  to 
delay  for  a  few  days  the  departure  of  the  fleet,  then 
riding  in  the  harbour,  which  was  destined  to  carry 
Bobadilla  and  the  rebels  with  their  ill-gotten  treas- 
ures back  to  Spain.  The  churlish  governor,  how- 
ever, not  only  refused  Columbus  admittance,  but 
gave  orders  for  the  instant  departure  of  the  vessels- 
The  apprehensions  of  the  experienced  mariner  were 
fully  justified  by  the  event.  Scarcely  had  the 
Spanish  fleet  quitted  its  moorings,  before  one  of 
those  tremendous  hurricanes  came  on,  which  so 
often  desolate  these  tropical  regions,  sweeping 
down  every  thing  before  it,  and  fell  with  such  vio- 
lence on  the  little  navy,  that  out  of  eighteen  ships, 
of  which  it  was  composed,  not  more  than  three  or 
four  escaped.  The  rest  all  foundered,  including 
those  which  contained  Bobadilla,  and  the  late  ene- 
mies of  Columbus.    Two  hundred  thousand  castella- 

By  an  ordinance  of  1503,  we  find    salary  of  50,000  maravedies.  Ibid., 
Diego  Colon  made  contino  of  the    Doc.  Dipl.,  no.  150. 
royal  household,  with  ?n  annual 


TREATMENT  OF  COLUMBUS. 


485 


nos  of  gold,  half  of  which  belonged  to  the  govern-  chapter 
ment,  went  to  the  bottom  with  them.  The  only  VIIL 
one  of  the  fleet  which  made  its  way  back  to  Spain 
was  a  crazy,  weather-beaten  bark,  which  contained 
the  admiral's  property,  amounting  to  four  thousand 
ounces  of  gold.  To  complete  these  curious  coinci- 
dences, Columbus  with  his  little  squadron  rode  out 
the  storm  in  safety  under  the  lee  of  the  island, 
where  he  had  prudently  taken  shelter,  on  being  so 
rudely  repulsed  from  the  port.  This  evenhanded 
retribution  of  justice,  so  uncommon  in  human  affairs, 
led  many  to  discern  the  immediate  interposition  of 
Providence.  Others,  in  a  less  Christian  temper, 
referred  it  all  to  the  necromancy  of  the  admiraj.40 

40  Peter  Martyr,  De  Rebus  Ocea-  Almirante,  cap.   88.  —  Benzoni 

nicis,  dec.  1,  lib.  10.  —  Garibay,  Novi  Orbis  Hist.,  cap.  12. —  Her 

Compendio,  torn.  ii.  lib.  19,  cap.  rera,  lndias  Occidentales,  lib.  5 

H.  —  Fernando  Colon,  Hist,  del  cap.  2. 


CHAPTER  IX. 


SPANISH  COLONIAL  POLICY. 


Careful  Provision  for  the  Colonies.  —  License  for  Private  Voyages  — 
Important  Papal  Concessions.  — The  Queen's  Zeal  for  Conversion.  — 
Immediate  Profits  from  the  Discoveries. — Their  moral  Consequences. 
— Their  geographical  Extent. 


part  A  consideration  of  the  colonial  policy  pursued 
 during  Isabella's  lifetime  has  been  hitherto  defer- 
red to  avoid  breaking  the  narrative  of  Columbus's 
personal  adventures.  I  shall  now  endeavour  to  pre- 
sent the  reader  with  a  brief  outline  of  it,  as  far  as 
can  be  collected  from  imperfect  and  scanty  mate- 
rials ;  for,  however  incomplete  in  itself,  it  becomes 
important  as  containing  the  germ  of  the  gigantic 
system  developed  in  later  ages, 
careful  pro-     Ferdinand  and  Isabella  manifested  from  the  first  an 

vision  for 

tue colonies.  eager  and  enlightened  curiosity  in  reference  to  their 
new  acquisitions,  constantly  interrogating  the  admi- 
ral minutely  as  to  their  soil  and  climate,  their  va- 
rious vegetable  and  mineral  products,  and  especially 
the  character  of  the  uncivilized  races  who  inhabited 
them.  They  paid  the  greatest  deference  to  his  sug- 
gestions, as  before  remarked,  and  liberally  supplied 
the  infant  settlement  with  whatever  could  contrib- 


SPANISH  COLONIAL  POLICY. 


487 


ute  to  its  nourishment  and  permanent  prosperity.1  chapter 

Through  their  provident  attention,  in  a  very  few  — 

years  after  its  discovery,  the  island  of  Hispaniola 
was  in  possession  of  the  most  important  domestic 
animals,  as  well  as  fruits  and  vegetables  of  the  old 
world,  some  of  which  have  since  continued  to  fur- 
nish the  staple  of  a  far  more  lucrative  commerce 
than  was  ever  anticipated  from  its  gold  mines.2 

Emigration  to  the  new  countries  was  encouraged  Liberal 

°<  ^  &  grants. 

by  the  liberal  tenor  of  the  royal  ordinances  passed 
from  time  to  time.  The  settlers  in  Hispaniola 
were  to  have  their  passage  free  ;  to  be  excused  from 
taxes ;  to  have  the  absolute  property  of  such  plan- 
tations on  the  island  as  they  should  engage  to  culti- 
vate for  four  years  ;  and  they  were  furnished  with 
a  gratuitous  supply  of  grain  and  stock  for  their 
farms.  All  exports  and  imports  were  exempted 
from  duty  ;  a  striking  contrast  to  the  narrow  policy 
of  later  ages.  Five  hundred  persons,  including 
scientific  men  and  artisans  of  every  description, 
were  sent  out  and  maintained  at  the  expense  of 
government.  To  provide  for  the  greater  security 
and  quiet  of  the  island,  Ovando  was  authorized  to 


1  See,  in  particular,  a  letter  to  2  Abundant  evidence  of  this  is 
Columbus,  dated  August,  1494 ;  furnished  by  the  long  enumeration 
(apod  Navarrete,  Coleccion  de  Via-  of  articles  subjected  to  tithes,  con- 
ges, torn,  ii.,  Doc.  Dipl.,  no.  79.)  tained  in  an  ordinance  dated  Octo- 
also  an  elaborate  memorial  present-  ber  5th,  1501,  showing  with  what 
ed  by  the  admiral  in  the  same  year,  indiscriminate  severity  this  heavy 
setting  forth  the  various  necessities  burden  was  imposed  from  the  first 
of  the  colony,  every  item  of  which  on  the  most  important,  products  of 
is  particularly  answered  by  the  sov-  human  industry.  Recopilacion  de 
ereigns,  in  a  manner  showing  how  Leyes  de  los  Rcynos  de  las  Indias, 
attentively  they  considered  his  sug-  (Madrid,  1774,)  torn.  i.  lib.  1,  Ut. 
gestions.  —  Ibid.,  torn.  i.  pp.  226  -  16,  ley  2 
241. 


488 


SPANISH  COLONIAL  POLICY. 


part  gather  the  residents  into  towns,  which  were  endow- 
 _.!  ed  with  the  privileges  appertaining  to  similar  cor- 
porations in  the  mother  country  ;  and  a  number  of 
married  men,  with  their  families  were  encouraged  to 
establish  themselves  in  them,  with  the  view  of  giving 
greater  solidity  and  permanence  to  the  settlement.3 
With  these  wise  provisions  were  mingled  others 
savouring  too  strongly  of  the  illiberal  spirit  of  the 
age.  Such  were  those  prohibiting  Jews,  Moors,  or 
indeed  any  but  Castilians,  for  whom  the  discovery 
was  considered  exclusively  to  have  been  made,  from 
inhabiting,  or  even  visiting,  the  New  World.  The 
government  kept  a  most  jealous  eye  upon  what  it 
re  garded  as  its  own  peculiar  perquisites,  reserving 
to  itself  the  exclusive  possession  of  all  minerals, 
dyewoods,  and  precious  stones,  that  should  be  dis- 
covered; and,  although  private  persons  were  allowed 
to  search  for  gold,  they  were  subjected  to  the  exor- 
bitant tax  of  two  thirds,  subsequently  reduced  to 
one  fifth,  of  all  they  should  obtain,  for  the  crown.4 
pSSt?for  ^he  measure  which  contributed  more  effectually 
than  any  other,  at  this  period,  to  the  progress  of 
discovery  and  colonization,  was  the  license  granted, 
under  certain  regulations,  in  1495,  for  voyages  un- 
dertaken by  private  individuals.  No  use  was  made 
of  this  permission  until  some  years  later,  in  1499. 

3  Navarrete,  Coleccion  de  Viapes,  Herrera,  Indias  Occidentales,  lib. 
torn,  ii.,  Doc.  Dipl.,  no.  80,  April  3,  cap.  2.  —  Mufioz,  Hist,  del 
10th,  1495.  —  Nos.  103,  105-  108,  Nuevo-M undo,  lib.  5,  sec.  34. 
April  23d,  1407. —  No.  110,  May  The  exclusion  of  foreigners,  at 
0th,  1497.  —  No.  121,  July  22d,  least  all  but  "  Catholic  Christians," 
1497.  —  Herrera,  Indias  Occiden-  is  particularly  recommended  by  Co- 
tales,  dec.  1,  lib.  4,  cap.  12.  lumbus  in  his  first  communication 

4  Navarrete,  Coleccion  de  Viages,  to  the  crown.    Primer  Yiage  de 
torn.  ii.,Doc.  Dipl.,  nos.  86,  121. —  Colon. 


SPANISH  COLONIAL  POLICY. 


483 


The  spirit  of  enterprise  had  flagged,  and  the  nation  chapter 

had  experienced  something  like  disappointment  on   —  

contrasting  the  meagre  results  of  their  own  discov- 
eries with  the  dazzling  successes  of  the  Portuguese, 
who  had  struck  at  once  into  the  very  heart  of  the 
jewelled  east.  The  reports  of  the  admiral's  third 
voyage,  however,  and  the  beautiful  specimens  of 
pearls  which  he  sent  home  from  the  coast  of  Paria, 
revived  the  cupidity  of  the  nation.  Private  adven- 
turers now  proposed  to  avail  themselves  of  the 
license  already  granted,  and  to  follow  up  the  track 
of  discovery  on  their  own  account.  The  govern- 
ment, drained  by  its  late  heavy  expenditures,  and 
jealous  of  the  spirit  of  maritime  adventure  begin- 
ning to  show  itself  in  the  other  nations  of  Europe,5 
willingly  acquiesced  in  a  measure,  which,  while  it 
opened  a  wide  field  of  enterprise  for  its  subjects, 
secured  to  itself  all  the  substantial  benefits  of  dis- 
covery, without  any  of  the  burdens. 

The  ships  fitted  out  under  the  general  license 
were  required  to  reserve  one  tenth  of  their  tonnage 
for  the  crown,  as  well  as  two  thirds  of  all  the  gold, 
and  ten  per  cent,  of  all  other  commodities  which 
they  should  procure.  The  government  promoted 
these  expeditions  by  a  bounty  on  all  vessels  of  six 
hundred  tons  and  upwards,  engaged  in  them.6 

5  Among  the  foreign  adventur-  thus  encroaching-,  as  it  were,  on 

ers  were   the   two  Cabots,  who  the  very  field  of  discovery  preoccu- 

sailed  in  the  service  of  the  English  pied  by  the  Spaniards, 

monarch,  Henry  VII.,  in  1497,  and  6  Muiloz,  Hist,  del  Nnevo-Mun 

n  ran  down  the  whole  coast  of  North  do,  lib.  5,  sect.  32.—  Nav.arrete, 

America,  from  Newfoundland  to  Coleccior  de  Viages,  Doc.  Dipl., 

within  a  few  degrees  of  Florida,  no.  86. 


VOL.  II. 


62 


490 


SPANISH  COLONIAL  POLICY. 


Their  sue 


part  With  this  encouragement  the  more  wealth}'  mer- 
-  chants  of  Seville,  Cadiz,  and  Palos,  the  old  theatre 
of  nautical  enterprise,  freighted  and  sent  out  little 
squadrons  of  three  or  four  vessels  each,  which  they 
intrusted  to  the  experienced  mariners,  who  had 
accompanied  Columbus  in  his  first  voyage,  or  since 
followed  in  his  footsteps.  They  held  in  general 
the  same  course  pursued  by  the  admiral  on  his  last 
expedition,  exploring  the  coasts  of  the  great  south- 
ern continent.  Some  of  the  adventurers  returned 
with  such  rich  freights  of  gold,  pearls,  and  other 
precious  commodities,  as  well  compensated  the 
fatigues  and  perils  of  the  voyage.  But  the  greater 
number  were  obliged  to  content  themselves  with 
the  more  enduring,  but  barren  honors  of  discovery.7 
Indian de-        The  active  spirit  of  enterprise  now  awakened. 

partment.  1  1 

and  the  more  enlarged  commercial  relations  with 
the  new  colonies,  required  a  more  perfect  organiza- 

7  Columbus  seems  to  have  taken  86.)  The  sovereigns,  indeed,  in 
exceptions  at  the  license  for  pri-  consequence  of  his  remonstrances, 
vate  voyages,  as  an  infringement  published  an  ordinance,  June  2d, 
of  his  own  prerogatives.  It  is  dif-  1497,  in  which,  after  expressing 
ficult,  however,  to  understand  in  their  unabated  respect  for  all  the 
what  way.  There  is  nothing  in  rights  and  privileges  of  the  admiral, 
his  original  capitulations  with  the  they  declare,  that  whatever  shall  be 
government  having  reference  to  the  found  in  their  previous  license  re- 
matter,  (see  Navarrete,  Coleccion  pngnant  to  these  shall  be  null  and 
deViages,  Doc.Dipl.,  no.  5  ;)  while,  void.  (Doc.  Dipl.,  113.)  The  hy- 
in  the  letters  patent  made  out  pre-  pothetical  form  in  which  this  is 
viously  to  his  second  voyage,  the  stated  shows,  that  the  sovereigns, 
right  of  granting  licenses  is  ex-  with  an  honest  desire  of  keeping 
pressly  reserved  to  the  crown,  and  their  engagements  with  Columbus, 
to  the  superintendent,  Fonseca,  had  not  a  very  clear  perception  in 
equally  with  the  admiral.  (Doc.  what  manner' they  had  been  vio- 
DipL,  no.  35.)    The  only  legal  lated. 

claim  which  he  could  make  in  all  Peter  Martyr,  De  Rebus  Oceani- 
such  expeditions  as  were  not  con-  cis,  Dec.  1,  lib.  9.  —  Herrera,  In- 
ducted under  him,  was  to  one  dias  Occidentales,  lib.  4,  cap.  11. 
eiehvh  of  the  tonnage,  and  this  —  Benzoni,  Novi  Orbis  Hist.,  cap. 
was  regularly  provided  for  in  the  13. 
general  license.    (Doc.  Dipl.,  no. 


SPANISH  COLONIAL  POLICY. 


491 


tion  of  the  department  for  Indian  affairs,  the  earliest  chapter 
vestiges  of  which  have  been  already  noticed  in  a  — — 
preceding  chapter. 8  By  an  ordinance  dated  at 
Alcala,  January  20th,  1503,  it  was  provided  that  a 
board  should  be  established,  consisting  of  three 
functionaries,  with  the  titles  of  treasurer,  factor,  and 
comptroller.  Their  permanent  residence  was  as- 
signed in  the  old  alcazar  of  Seville,  where  they 
were  to  meet  every  day  for  the  despatch  of  busi- 
ness. The  board  was  expected  to  make  itself 
thoroughly  acquainted  with  whatever  concerned  the 
colonies,  and  to  afford  the  government  all  informa- 
tion, that  could  be  obtained,  affecting  their  interests 
and  commercial  prosperity.  It  was  empowered  to 
grant  licenses  under  the  regular  conditions,  to  pro- 
vide for  the  equipment  of  fleets,  to  determine  their 
destination,  and  furnish  them  instructions,  on  sail- 
ing. All  merchandise  for  exportation  was  to  be 
deposited  in  the  alcazar,  where  the  return  cargoes 
were  to  be  received,  and  contracts  made  for  their 
sale.  Similar  authority  was  given  to  it  over  the 
trade  with  the  Barbary  coast  and  the  Canary  Isl- 
ands. Its  supervision  was  to  extend  in  like  man- 
ner over  all  vessels  which  might  take  their  depart- 
ure from  the  port  of  Cadiz,  as  well  as  from  Seville. 
With  these  powers  were  combined  others  of  a 
purely  judicial  character,  authorizing  them  to  take 
cognizance  of  questions  arising  out  of  particular 
voyages,  and  of  the  colonial  trade  in  general.  In 
this  latter  capacity  they  were  to  be  assisted  by  the 


8  Part  I.  Chap.  18,  of  this  History. 


492 


SPANISH  COLONIAL  POLICY. 


PART 
II. 


Casa  de 
<Joutra- 
l  scion. 


important 
j.apal  con- 
cessions. 


advice  of  two  jurists,  maintained  by  a  regular  sal- 
ary from  the  government.9 

Such  were  the  extensive  powers  intrusted  to  the 
famous  Casa  de  Contratacion,  or  House  of  Trade, 
on  this  its  first  definite  organization ;  and,  although 
its  authority  was  subsequently  somewhat  circum- 
scribed by  the  appellate  jurisdiction  of  the  Council 
of  the  Indies,  it  has  always  continued  the  great 
organ  by  which  the  commercial  transactions  with 
the  colonies  have  been  conducted  and  controlled. 

The  Spanish  government,  while  thus  securing  to 
itself  the  more  easy  and  exclusive  management  of 
the  colonial  trade,  by  confining  it  within  one  nar- 
row channel,  discovered  the  most  admirable  fore- 
sight in  providing  for  its  absolute  supremacy  in 
ecclesiastical  affairs,  where  alone  it  could  be  con- 
tested. By  a  bull  of  Alexander  the  Sixth,  dated 
November  16th,  1501,  the  sovereigns  were  em- 
powered to  receive  all  the  tithes  in  the  colonial 
dominions. 10  Another  bull,  of  Pope  Julius  the 
Second,  July  28th,  1508,  granted  them  the  right 
of  collating  to  all  benefices,  of  whatever  descrip- 
tion, in  the  colonies,  subject  only  to  the  approba- 
tion of  the  Holy  See.  By  these  two  concessions, 
the  Spanish  crown  was  placed  at  once  at  the 
head  cf  the  church  in  its  transatlantic  dominions, 


9  Navarrete,  Coleccion  de  Via- 
ges,  torn,  ii.,  Doc.  Dipl., no.  148.  — 
Solorzano  y  Pereyra,  Politica  In- 
diana, (Madrid,  17TG,)  lib.  6,  cap. 
17.  — Linage  de  Veitia,  Norte  de 
la  Contratacion  de  las  Indias  Occi- 
oentales,  (Sevilla,  1672,)  lib.  1, 
cap.  1.  —  Zuniga,  Annales  de  Se- 


villa, afio  1503. — Herrera,  Indias 
Occidentales,  lib.  5,  cap.  12.  — 
Navagiero,  Viaggio,  fol.  15. 

10  See  the  original  bull,  apud 
Navarrete,  Coleccion  de  Viages, 
torn.  ii.  apend.  14,  and  a  Spanish 
version  of  it,  in  Solorzano,  Politica 
Indiana,  lib.  4,  cap.  1,  sec.  7. 


SPANISH  COLONIAL  POLICY. 


493 


with  the  absolute  disposal  of  all  its  dignities  and  ciiaptek 
emoluments.11   

It  has  excited  the  admiration  of  more  than  one 
historian,  that  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  with  their 
reverence  for  the  Catholic  church,  should  have  had 
the  courage  to  assume  an  attitude  of  such  entire 
independence  of  its  spiritual  chief.12  But  whoever 
has  studied  their  reign,  will  regard  this  measure 
as  perfectly  conformable  to  their  habitual  policy, 
which  never  suffered  a  zeal  for  religion,  or  a  blind 
deference  to  the  church,  to  compromise  in  any 
degree  the  independence  of  the  crown.  It  is 
much  more  astonishing,  that  pontiffs  could  be  found 
content  to  divest  themselves  of  such  important 
prerogatives.  It  was  deviating  widely  from  the 
subtle  and  tenacious  spirit  of  their  predecessors ; 
and,  as  the  consequences  came  to  be  more  fully 
disclosed,  furnished  ample  subject  of  regret  to 
those  who  succeeded  them. 

Such  is  a  brief  summary  of  the  principal  regu-  spirit  of  nM 

J  i  i  o        colonial  lee- 

lations  adopted  by  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  for  the  islatiOD 
administration  of  the  colonies.  Many  of  their  pe- 
culiarities, including  most  of  their  defects,  are  to 
be  referred  to  the  peculiar  circumstances  under 
which  the.  discovery  of  the  New  World  was  ef- 
fected. Unlike  the  settlements  on  the  compara- 
tively sterile  shores  of  North  America,  which  were 
permitted  to  devise  laws  accommodated  to  their 

11  Solorzano,  Politica  Indiana,  History  of  the  East  and  West 

torn.  ii.  lib.  4,  cap.  2,  sec.  9. —  Indies,  translated  by  Justamond, 

Riol,  Informe,    apud   Seinanario  (London,  1788,)  vol.  iv.  p.  277. 

tirudito,  torn.  iii.  pp.  160,  161.  — Robertson,  History  of  America, 

ia  Among  others  see   Raynal,  (London,  1796,)  vol.  iii.  p.  283. 


SPANISH  COLONIAL  POLICY. 


pvrt     necessities,  and  to  gather  strength  in  the  habitual 

—       exercise  of  political  functions,  the  Spanish  colonies 

were  from  the  very  first  checked  and  controlled  by 
the  over-legislation  of  the  parent  country.  The 
original  project  of  discovery  had  been  entered  into 
with  indefinite  expectations  of  gain.  The  verifica- 
tion of  Columbus's  theory  of  the  existence  of  land 
in  the  west  gave  popular  credit  to  his  conjecture, 
that  that  land  was  the  far-famed  Indies.  The 
specimens  of  gold  and  other  precious  commodities 
found  there,  served  to  maintain  the  delusion.  The 
Spanish  government  regarded  the  expedition  as  its 
own  private  adventure,  to  whose  benefits  it  had 
exclusive  pretensions.  Hence  those  jealous  regu- 
lations for  securing  to  itself  a  monopoly  of  the 
most  obvious  sources  of  profit,  the  dyewoods  and 
the  precious  metals. 

These  impolitic  provisions  were  relieved  by 
others  better  suited  to  the  permanent  interests  of 
the  colony.  Such  was  the  bounty  offered  in  vari- 
ous ways  on  the  occupation  and  culture  of  land  ; 
the  erection  of  municipalities ;  the  right  of  inter- 
colonial traffic,  and  of  exporting  and  importing 
merchandise  of  every  description  free  of  duty.13 
These  and  similar  laws  show,  that  the  government, 
far  from  regarding  the  colonies  merely  as  a  foreign 
acquisition  to  be  sacrificed  to  the  interests  of  the 
mother  country,  as  at  a  later  period,  was  disposed 

13  Mufioz,  Hist,  del  Nuevo-  cap.  11,  12.  —  Navarrete,  Colec- 
Mundo,  lib.  5,  sec.  32,  33.  — Her-  cion  de  Viages,  torn,  ii.,  Doc.  Dipl., 
rera,  Indias  Occidentales,  lib.  4,    no.  86. 


SPANISH  COLONIAL  POLICY. 


to  legislate  for  them  on  more  generous  principles, 
as  an  integral  portion  of  the  monarchy. 

Some  of  the  measures,  even,  of  a  less  liberal 
tenor,  may  be  excused,  as  sufficiently  accommodat- 
ed to  existing  circumstances.  No  regulation,  for 
example,  was  found  eventually  more  mischievous  in 
its  operation  than  that  which  confined  the  colonial 
trade  to  the  single  port  of  Seville,  instead  of 
permitting  it  to  find  a  free  vent  in  the  thousand 
avenues  naturally  opened  in  every  part  of  the  king- 
dom ;  to  say  nothing  of  the  grievous  monopolies 
and  exactions,  for  which  this  concentration  of  a 
mighty  traffic  on  so  small  a  point  was  found,  in  later 
times,  to  afford  unbounded  facility.  But  the  colo- 
nial trade  was  too  limited  in  its  extent,  under  Fer- 
dinand and  Isabella,  to  involve  such  consequences. 
It  was  chiefly  confined  to  a  few  wealthy  seaports 
of  Andalusia,  from  the  vicinity  of  which  the  first 
adventurers  had  sallied  forth  on  their  career  of  dis- 
covery. It  was  no  inconvenience  to  them  to  have  a 
common  port  of  entry,  so  central  and  accessible  as 
Seville,  which,  moreover,  by  this  arrangement  be- 
came a  great  mart  for  European  trade,  thus  afford- 
ing a  convenient  market  to  the  country  for  effecting 
its  commercial  exchanges  with  every  quarter  of 
Christendom.14  It  was  only  when  laws,  adapted  to 
the  incipient  stages  of  commerce,  were  perpetu- 
ated to  a  period  when  that  commerce  had  swelled 

14  The  historian  of  Seville  men-  course  had  been  opened  by  the  in 

tions,  that  it  was  the  resort  especial-  termarriages  of  the  royal  family 

ly  of  the  merchants  of  Flanders,  with  the  house  of  Burgundy.  See 

with  whom  a  more  intimate  inter-  Zuiliga,  Annales  de  Sevilla,  p.  415. 


496 


SPANISH  COLONIAL  POLICY. 


part     to  such  gigantic  dimensions  as  to  embrace  every 

— —  quarter  of  the  empire,  that  their  gross  impolicy 

became  manifest, 
•rhe  queen'.      It  would  notbe  giving  a  fair  view  of  the  great 

w?al  for  con-         (  °         °  & 

■wtiw. the  objects  proposed  by  the  Spanish  sovereigns  in  their 
schemes  of  discovery,  to  omit  one  which  was  para- 
mount to  all  the  rest,  with  the  queen  at  least,  — 
the  propagation  of  Christianity  among  the  heathen. 
The  conversion  and  civilization  of  this  simple  peo- 
ple form,  as  has  been  already  said,  the  burden  of 
most  of  her  official  communications  from  the  earliest 
period.15  She  neglected  no  means  for  the  further- 
ance of  this  good  work,  through  the  agency  of  mis- 
sionaries exclusively  devoted  to  it,  who  were  to 
establish  their  residence  among  the  natives,  and  win 
them  to  the  true  faith  by  their  instructions,  and  the 
edifying  example  of  their  own  lives.  It  was  with 
the  design  of  ameliorating  the  condition  of  the 
1501.  natives,  that  she  sanctioned  the  introduction  into 
the  colonies  of  negro  slaves  born  in  Spain.  This 
she  did  on  the  representation,  that  the  physical 
constitution  of  the  African  was  much  better  fitted 
than  that  of  the  Indian,  to  endure  severe  toil 
under  a  tropical  climate.  To  this  false  principle 
of  economizing  human  suffering,  we  are  indebted 
for  that  foul  stain  on  the  New  World,  which  has 
grown  deeper  and  darker  with  the  lapse  of  years. 16 

15  Navarrete,  Colcccion  de  Via-  CEuvres,  ed.  de  Llorente,  torn.  i. 

ges,  torn,  ii.,  Doc.  Dipl.,  no.  45,  et  pp.  21,  307,  395,  et  alibi, 

loc.  al.  —  Las  Casas,  amidst  his  16  Herrera,  Indias  Occidentals, 

unsparing    condemnation  of   the  lib.  4,  cap.  12.  —  A  good  account 

guilty,  does  ample  justice  to  the  of  the  introduction  of  negro  slav- 

pure  and  generous,  though  alas  !  ery  into  the  New  World,  compre- 

unavailing  efforts  of  the  queen.  See  hending  the  material  facts,  and 


SPANISH  COLOxNIAL  POLICY. 


497 


Isabella,  however,  was  destined  to  have  her  be-  uwtek 
nevolent  designs,  in  regard  to  the  natives,  defeated 


by  her  own  subjects.  The  popular  doctrine  of  the  detK.ly 
absolute  rights  of  the  Christian  over  the  heathen 
seemed  to  warrant  the  exaction  of  labor  from  these 
unhappy  beings  to  any  degree,  which  avarice  on  the 
one  hand  could  demand,  or  human  endurance  con- 
cede on  the  other.  The  device  of  the  repartimien- 
tos  systematized  and  completed  the  whole  scheme 
of  oppression.  The  queen,  it  is  true,  abolished  them 
under  Ovando's  administration,  and  declared  the 
Indians  "  as  free  as  her  own  subjects."17  But  his 
representation,  that  the  Indians,  when  no  longer 
compelled  to  work,  withdrew  from  all  intercourse 
with  the  Christians,  thus  annihilating  at  once  all 
hopes  of  their  conversion,  subsequently  induced  her 
to  consent,  that  they  should  be  required  to  labor 
moderately  and  for  a  reasonable  compensation. 18 
This  was  construed  with  their  usual  latitude  by 
the  Spaniards.    They  soon  revived  the  old  system 

some  little  known,  may  be  found  17  Herrera,  Indias  Occidentalcs, 
in  the  fifth  chapter  of  Bancroft's  lib.  4,  cap.  II. 
"  History  of  the  United  States  "  ;  is  Dec.  20th,  1503.— Ibid. lib.  5, 
a  work  in  which  the  author  has  cap.  11.  —  Seethe  instructions  to 
shown  singular  address  in  creating  Ovando  in  Navarrete,  (Coleccionde 
a  unity  of  interest  out  of  a  subject  Yiages,  torn,  ii.,  Doc.  Dipl.,  no. 
which,  in  its  early  stages,  would  153.)  "  Pay  them  regular  wages," 
seem  to  want  every  other  unity.  It  says  the  ordinance,  "  for  their  la- 
is  the  deficiency  of  this,  probably,  bor,"  u  como  personas  libres  como 
which  bus  prevented  Mr.  Grahame's  lo  son,  y  no  como  sicrvos."  Las 
valuable  History  from  attaining  the  Casas,  who  analyzes  these  instruc- 
popularily,  to  which  its  solid  mer-  tions,  which  Llorente,  by  the  by, 
its  justly  entitle  it.  Should  the  re-  has  misdated,  exposes  the  atrocious 
maining  volumes  of  Mr.  Bancroft's  manner  in  which  they  were  violat- 
work  be  conducted  with  the  same  ed,  in  every  particular,  by  Ovando 
spirit,  scholarship,  and  impartiality  and  his  successors.  CEuvres,  ed. 
as  the  volume  before  us,  it  can-  de  Llore  ite,  torn.  i.  p.  309.  et  soq. 
not  fail  to  lake  a  permanent  rank  in 
American  literature. 

VOL.  II.  C3 


493 


SPANISH  COLONIAL  POLICY. 


n. 


part  of  distribution  on  so  terrific  a  scale,  that  a  letter  of 
Columbus,  written  shortly  after  Isabella's  death, 
represents  more  than  six  sevenths  of  the  whole 
population  of  Hispaniola  to  have  melted  away  un- 
der it ! 19  The  queen  was  too  far  removed  to  enforce 
the  execution  of  her  own  beneficent  measures ;  nor 
is  it  probable,  that  she  ever  imagined  the  extent  of 
their  violation,  for  there  was  no  intrepid  philanthro- 
pist, in  that  day,  like  Las  Casas,  to  proclaim  to  the 
world  the  wrongs  and  sorrows  of  the  Indian.20  A 
conviction,  however,  of  the  unworthy  treatment  of 
the  natives  seems  to  have  pressed  heavily  on  her 
heart ;  for  in  a  codicil  to  her  testament,  dated  a 
few  days  only  before  her  death,  she  invokes  the 
kind  offices  of  her  successor  in  their  behalf  in  such 
strong  and  affectionate  language,  as  plainly  indi- 
cates how  intently  her  thoughts  were  occupied  with 
their  condition  down  to  the  last  hour  of  her  exist- 
ence.21 

immediate       The  moral  grandeur  of  the  maritime  discoveries 

nrofltfl  from  o 

under  this  reign  must  not  so  far  dazzle  us,  as  to 
lead  to  a  very  high  estimate  of  their  immediate  re- 
sults in  an  economical  view.   Most  of  those  articles 


profits  from 
the  discov- 
eries 


19  Ibid,  ubi  supra.  — Las  Casas, 
Hist.  Ind.,  lib.  2,  cap.  36,  MS., 
apud  Irving,  vol.  iii.  p.  412.  — The 
venerable  bishop  confirms  this 
frightful  picture  of  desolation,  in  its 
full  extent,  in  his  various  memo- 
rials prepared  for  the  council  of  the 
Indies.  CEuvres,  ed.  de  Llorente, 
torn.  i.  passim. 

20  Las  Casas  made  his  first 
voyage  to  the  Indies,  it  is  true,  in 
1498,  or  at  latest  1502  ;  but  there  is 
no  trace  of  his  taking  an  active 
part  in  denouncing  the  oppressions 


of  the  Spaniards  earlier  than  1510, 
when  he  combined  his  efforts  with 
those  of  the  Dominican  missiona- 
ries lately  arrived  in  St.  Domingo, 
in  the  same  good  work.  It  was 
not  until  some  years  later,  1515, 
that  he  returned  to  Spain  and  plead- 
ed the  cause  of  the  injured  na- 
tives before  the  throne.  Llorente, 
CEuvres  de  Las  Casas,  torn.  i.  pp. 
1  -23.  —  Nic.  Antonio,  Bibliotheea 
Nova,  torn.  i.  pp.  191,  192. 

2i  See  the  will,  apud  Dormer, 
Discursos  Varios,  p.  381. 


SPANISH  COLONIAL  POLICY. 


499 


which  have  since  formed  the  great  staples  of  South  chapter 
American  commerce,  as  cocoa,  indigo,  cochineal,  1X' 
tobacco,  &c,  were  either  not  known  in  Isabella's 
time,  or  not  cultivated  for  exportation.  Small 
quantities  of  cotton  had  been  brought  to  Spain,  but 
it  was  doubted  whether  the  profit  would  compen- 
sate the  expense  of  raising  it.  The  sugar-cane  had 
been  transplanted  into  Hispaniola,  and  thrived  lux- 
uriantly in  its  genial  soil.  But  it  required  time  to 
grow  it  to  any  considerable  amount  as  an  article  of 
commerce  ;  and  this  was  still  further  delayed  by 
the  distractions,  as  well  as  avarice  of  the  colony, 
which  grasped  at  nothing  less  substantial  than  gold 
itself.  The  only  vegetable  product  extensively 
used  in  trade  was  the  brazil-wood,  whose  beautiful 
dye  and  application  to  various  ornamental  purposes 
made  it,  from  the  first,  one  of  the  most  important 
monopolies  of  the  crown. 

The  accounts  are  too  vague  to  afford  any  proba- 
ble estimate  of  the  precious  metals  obtained  from 
the  new  territories  previous  to  Ovando's  mission. 
Before  the  discovery  of  the  mines  of  Hayna  it  was 
certainly  very  inconsiderable.  The  size  of  some  of 
the  specimens  of  ore  found  there  would  suggest 
magnificent  ideas  of  their  opulence.  One  piece  of 
gold  is  reported  by  the  contemporary  historians  to 
have  weighed  three  thousand  two  hundred  castella- 
nos,  and  to  have  been  so  large,  that  the  Spaniards 
served  up  a  roasted  pig  on  it,  boasting  that  no 
potentate  in  Europe  could  dine  off  so  costly  a  dish.22 

22  Herrera,  Indias  Occidentals,  Hist,  del  Almirante,  cap  84.-- 
lib.  5,  cap.  1.  — Fernando  Colon,    Oviedo,  Relacion  Sumaria  de  la 


600 


SPANISH  COLONIAL  POLICY. 


The  admiral's  own  statement,  that  the  miners  ob- 
tained from  six  gold  castellanos  to  one  hundred  or 
even  two  hundred  and  fifty  in  a  day,  allows  a  lati- 
tude too  great  to  lead  to  any  definite  conclusion.'23 
More  tangible  evidence  of  the  riches  of  the  island 
is  afforded  by  the  fact,  that  two  hundred  thousand 
castellanos  of  gold  went  down  in  the  ships  with 
Bobadilla.  But  this,  it  must  be  remembered,  was 
the  fruit  of  gigantic  efforts,  continued,  under  a  sys- 
tem of  unexampled  oppression,  for  more  than  two 
years.  To  this  testimony  might  be  added  that  of 
the  well-informed  historian  of  Seville,  who  infers 
from  several  royal  ordinances,  that  the  influx  of  the 
precious  metals  had  been  such,  before  the  close  of 
the  fifteenth  century,  as  to  affect  the  value  of  the 
currency,  and  the  regular  prices  of  commodities.24 
These  large  estimates,  however,  are  scarcely  recon- 
cilable with  the  popular  discontent  at  the  meagre- 
ness  of  the  returns  obtained  from  the  New  AVorld, 
or  with  the  assertion  of  Bernaldez,  of  the  same  date 
with  Zuniga's  reference,  that  "  so  little  gold  had 
been  brought  home  as  to  raise  a  general  belief,  that 
there  was  scarcely  any  in  the  island."25    This  is 


Historia  Natural  de  las  Indias, 
cap.  84,  aptid  Barcia,  Historiadores 
Prirnilivos,  torn.  i. 

23  Tercer  Yiage  de  Colon,  apud 
Navarrete,  Coleccion  de  Viages, 
torn.  i.  p.  274. 

84  Zuniga,  Annales  de  Sevilla, 
p.  4  15. 

The  alteration  was  in  the  gold 
currency;  which  continued  to  rise 
in  value  till  1497,  when  it  gradu- 
ally sunk,  in  consequence  of  the 
importation  from  the  mines  of  His- 
paniola.    Clemencin  has  given  its 


relative  value  as  compared  with 
silver,  for  several  different  years  ; 
and  the  year  he  assigns  for  the 
commencement  of  its  depreciation, 
is  precisely  the  same  with  that  in- 
dicated by  Zufiiga.  (Mem.  de  la 
Acad,  de  Hist.,  torn.  vi.  Unst.  20.) 
The  value  of  silver  was  not  mate- 
rially affected  till  the  disco\ery  of 
the  great  mines  of  Potosi  and  Zaca- 
tecas. 

83  IJernaldez,  Reyes  Catolicos 
MS.,  cap.  131. 


SPANISH  COLONIAL  POLICY.  601 

still  further  confirmed  by  the  frequent  representu-  chapter 
tions  of  contemporary  writers,  that  the  expenses  of  lx> 
the  colonies  considerably  exceeded  the  profits  ;  and 
may  account  for  the  very  limited  scale  on  which  the 
Spanish  government,  at  no  time  blind  to  its  own 
interests,  pursued  its  schemes  of  discovery,  as  com- 
pared with  its  Portuguese  neighbours,  who  followed 
up  theirs  with  a  magnificent  apparatus  of  fleets  and 
armies,  that  could  have  been  supported  only  by  the 
teeming  treasures  of  the  Indies.26 

While  the  colonial  commerce  failed  to  produce  origin  orthe 

tit  |        1*1  t  .    ,  venereal  dis- 

immediately  the  splendid  returns  which  were  ex-  case- 
pected,  it  was  generally  believed  to  have  introduced 
a  physical  evil  into  Europe,  which,  in  the  language 
of  an  eminent  writer,  "  more  than  counterbalanced 
all  the  benefits  that  resulted  from  the  discovery  of 
the  New  World."  I  allude  to  the  loathsome  dis- 
ease, which  Heaven  has  sent  as  the  severest  scourge 
of  licentious  intercourse  between  the  sexes ;  and 


*  The  estimates  in  the  text,  it 
will  be  noticed,  apply  only  to  the  pe- 
riod antecedent  to  Ovando's  admin- 
istration, in  1502.  The  operations 
under  him  were  conducted  on  a  far 
more  extensive  and  efficient  plan. 
The  system  of  repartimientos  being 
revived,  the  whole  physical  force 
of  the  island,  aided  by  the  best 
mechanical  apparatus,  was  em- 
ployed in  extorting  from  the  soil 
all  its  hidden  stores  of  wealth. 
The  success  was  such  that  in  1500, 
within  two  years  after  Isabella's 
death,  the  four  foundenes  estab- 
lished in  the  island  yielded  an  an- 
nual amount,  according  to  Herrera, 
of  450,000  ounces  of  gold.  It  must 
be  remarked,  however,  that  one 
fifth  only  of  the  gross  sum  obtained 


from  the  mines  was  at  that  time 
paid  to  the  crown.  It  is  a  proof 
how  far  these  returns  exceeded 
the  expectations  at  the  time  of 
Ovando's  appointment,  that  the  per- 
son then  sent  out,  as  marker  of  the 
gold,  was  to  receive,  as  a  reasona- 
ble compensation,  one  per  cent,  of 
all  the  gold  assayed.  The  perqui- 
site, however,  was  found  to  be  so 
excessive,  that  the  functionary  was 
recalled,  and  a  new  arrangement 
made  with  his  successor.  (See 
Herrera,  Indias  Occidentals,  dec. 
1,  lib.  6,  cap.  18.)  When  Nava- 
giero  visited  Seville,  in  1520,  the 
royal  fifth  of  the  gold,  which  pass- 
ed through  the  mints,  amounted 
to  about  100,000  ducats  annually. 
Viaggio,  fol.  15. 


502 


SPANISH  COLONIAL  POLICY. 


part  which  broke  out  with  all  the  virulence  of  an  epi- 
1L  demic  in  almost  every  quarter  of  Europe,  in  a  very 
short  time  after  the  discovery  of  America.  The 
coincidence  of  these  two  events  led  to  the  popular 
belief  of  their  connexion  with  each  other,  though 
it  derived  little  support  from  any  other  circum- 
stance. The  expedition  of  Charles  the  Eighth, 
against  Naples,  which  brought  the  Spaniards,  soon 
after,  in  immediate  contact  with  the  various  nations 
of  Christendom,  suggested  a  plausible  medium  for 
the  rapid  communication  of  the  disorder  ;  and  this 
theory  of  its  origin  and  transmission,  gaining  cred- 
it with  time,  which  made  it  more  difficult  to  be 
refuted,  has  passed  with  little  examination  from 
the  mouth  of  one  historian  to  another  to  the 
present  day. 

The  extremely  brief  interval  which  elapsed, 
between  the  return  of  Columbus  and  the  simul- 
taneous appearance  of  the  disorder  at  the  most 
distant  points  of  Europe,  long  since  suggested  a 
reasonable  distrust  of  the  correctness  of  the  hy- 
pothesis ;  and  an  American,  naturally  desirous  of 
relieving  his  own  country  from  so  melancholy  a  re- 
proach, may  feel  satisfaction  that  the  more  search- 
ing and  judicious  criticism  of  our  own  day  has  at 
length  established  beyond  a  doubt  that  the  disease, 
far  from  originating  in  the  New  World,  was  never 
known  there  till  introduced  by  Europeans. 27 

27  The  curious  reader  is  particu-  Venerei,  di  Domcnico  Thiene,  Vcne- 
larly  referred  to  a  late  work,  enti-  zia,  1823  ;  for  the  knowledge  and 
tied  Lctlere  sulla  Sloria  de1  Mali    loan  of  which  I  am  indebted  to  my 


SPANISH  COLONIAL  POLICY. 


503 


Whatever  be  the  amount  of  physical  good  or  chapter 
evil,  immediately  resulting  to  Spain  from  her  new  5 

d.  i     •  I  .  Moral  con- 

lscoverics,  their  moral  consequences  were  inesti-  sequences  of 

mable.  lhe  ancient  limits  of  human  thought  and  er,,s 
action  were  overleaped  ;  the  veil  which  had  covered 
the  secrets  of  the  deep  for  so  many  centuries  was 
removed  ;  another  hemisphere  was  thrown  open  ; 
and  a  boundless  expansion  promised  to  science, 
from  the  infinite  varieties  in  which  nature  was  ex- 
hibited in  these  unexplored  regions.    The  success 


Iriend,  Dr.  Walter  Charming-.  In 
this  work,  the  author  has  assem- 
bled all  the  early  notices  of  the  dis- 
ease of  any  authority,  and  discuss- 
ed their  import  with  great  integrity 
and  judgment.  The  following  po- 
sitions may  be  considered  as  estab- 
lished by  his  researches.  1.  That 
neither  Columbus  nor  his  son,  in 
their  copious  narratives  and  corre- 
spondence, allude  in  any  way  to  the 
existence  of  such  a  disease  in  the 
New  World.  I  must  add,  that  an 
examination  of  the  original  docu- 
ments published  by  Navarrete since 
the  date  of  Dr.  Thiene's  work, 
fully  confirms  this  statement.  2. 
That  among  the  frequent  notices  of 
the  disease,  during  the  twenty-five 
years  immediately  following  the 
discovery  of  America,  there  is  not  a 
single  intimation  of  its  having  been 
brought  from  that  country;  but,  on 
the  contrary,  a  uniform  derivation 
of  it  from  some  other  source,  gen- 
erally France.  3.  That  the  disor- 
der was  known  and  circumstantial- 
ly described  previous  to  the  expe- 
dition ot  Charles  VIII.,  and  of 
course  could  not  have  been  intro- 
duced by  the  Spaniards  in  thai  way, 
as  vulgarly  supposed.  4.  That 
various  contemporary  authors  trace 
its  existence  in  a  variety  of  coun- 
tries, as  far  back  as  1493,  and  the 


beginning  of  1494,  showing  a  rapid- 
ity and  extent  of  diffusion  perfectly 
irreconcilable  with  its  importation 
by  Columbus  in  1493.  5.  Last- 
ly, that  it  was  not  till  after  the 
close  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella's 
reigns,  that  the  first  work  appeared 
affecting  to  trace  the  origin  of  the 
disease  to  America;  and  this,  pub- 
lished 1517,  was  the  production 
not  of  a  Spaniard,  but  a  foreigner 

A  letter  of  Peter  Martyr  to  the 
learned  Portuguese  Arias  Barbosa, 
professor  of  Greek  at  Salamanca, 
noticing  the  symptoms  of  the  dis- 
ease in  the  most  unequivocal  man- 
ner, will  settle  at  once  this  much 
vexed  question,  if  we  can  rely  on  # 
the  genuineness  of  the  date,  the 
5th  of  April,  1488,  about  five  years 
before  the  return  of  Columbus. 
Dr.  Thiene,  however,  rejects  the 
date  as  apocryphal,  on  the  ground, 
1.  That  the  name  of  M  morbus  Gal- 
licus,"  given  to  the  disease  by 
Martyr,  was  not  in  use  till  after  the 
French  invasion,  in  1494.  2.  That 
the  superscription  of  Greek  profes- 
sor at  Salamanca  was  premature, 
as  no  such  professorship  existed 
there  till  1508. 

As  to  the  first  of  these  objections, 
it  may  be  remarked,  that  there  is 
but  one  author  prior  to  the  French 
invasion,  who  notices  the  disease  at 


504 


SPANISH  COLONIAL  POLICY. 


part     of  the  Spaniards  kindled  a  generous  emulation  in 

  their  Portuguese  rivals,  who   soon  after  accom- 

plished  their  long-sought  passage  into  the  Indian 
seas,  and  thus  completed  the  great  circle  of  mari- 
time discovery.28  It  would  seem  as  if  Providence 
had  postponed  this  grand  event,  until  the  posses- 
sion of  America,  with  its  stores  of  precious  metals, 
might  supply  such  materials  for  a  commerce  with 
the  east,  as  should  bind  together  the  most  distant 
quarters  of  the  globe.    The  impression  made  on 


all.  He  derives  it  from  Gaul, 
though  not  giving  it  the  technical 
appellation  of  morbus  GalHcus ;  and 
Martyr,  it  may  be  observed,  far 
from  confining  himself  to  this,  al- 
ludes to  one  or  two  other  names, 
showing  that  its  title  was  then  quite 
undetermined.  In  regard  to  the 
second  objection,  Dr.  Thiene  does 
not  cite  his  authority  for  limiting 
the  introduction  of  Greek  at  Sal- 
amanca to  1508.  He  may  have 
found  a  plausible  one  in  the  account 
of  that  university  compiled  by  one 
of  its  officers,  Pedro  Chacon,  in 
1509,  inserted  in  the  eighteenth 
volume  of  the  Semanario  Erudito, 
(Madrid,  1789.)  The  accuracy  of 
the  writer's  chronology,  however, 
may  well  be  doubted  from  a  gross 
anachronism  on  the  same  page  with 
the  date  referred  to,  where  he 
speaks  of  Queen  Joanna,  as  inher- 
iting the  crown  in  1512.  (Hist.de 
la  Universidad  de  Salamanca,"  p. 
55.)  Waving  this,  however,  the 
fact  of  Barbosa  being  Greek  pro- 
fessor at  Salamanca  in  1488  is  di- 
rectly intimated  by  his  pupil  the 
celebrated  Andrew  Resendi.  "Ari- 
as Lusitanus,"  says  he,  "  qnadra- 
ginta,  et  eo  plus  annos  SaJmanticai 
turn  Latinas  litteras,  turn  Graicas, 
magna  cum  laude  professus  est." 
(Kesponsio ad  Quevedum,  npud  Bar- 


bosa, Bibliotheca  Lusitana,  torn.  1. 
p.  77.)  Now  as  Barbosa,  by  gen- 
eral consent,  passed  several  years 
in  his  native  country,  Portugal,  be- 
fore his  death  in  1530,  this  asser- 
tion of  Resendi  necessarily  places 
him  at  Salamanca  in  the  situation 
of  Greek  instructor  some  time  be- 
fore the  date  of  Martyr's  letter. 
It  may  be  added,  indeed,  that  Nic. 
Antonio,  than  whom  a  more  com- 
petent critic  could  not  be  found,  so 
far  from  suspecting  the  date  of  the. 
letter,  cites  it  as  settling  the  period 
when  Barbosa  filled  the  Greek 
chair  at  Salamanca.  (See  Bibli- 
otheca, Nova,  torn.  i.  p.  170.) 

Martyr's  epistle,  if  we  admit  the 
genuineness  of  the  date,  must  dis- 
pose at  once  of  the  whole  question 
of  the  American  origin  of  the  ve- 
nereal disease.  .But  as  this  ques- 
tion is  determined  quite  as  conclu- 
sively, though  not  so  summarily, 
by  the  accumulated  evidence  from 
other  sources,  the  reader  will  prob- 
ably think  the  matter  not  worth  so 
much  discussion. 

28  This  event  occurred  in  1497, 
Vasco  de  Gama  doubling  the  Cape 
of  Good  Hope,  November  20th,  in 
that  year,  and  reaching  Calicut  in 
the  following  May,  1198.  La 
CKde,  Hist,  de  Portugal  torn,  iii 
pp.  104-  109. 


SPANISH  COLONIAL  POLICY.  C)05 

the  enlightened  minds  of  that  day  is  evinced  by  chapter 

IX 

the  tone  of  gratitude  and  exultation,  in  which  they  

indulge,  at  being  permitted  to  witness  the  consum- 
mation of  these  glorious  events,  which  their  fathers 
had  so  long,  but  in  vain,  desired  to  see.29 

The  discoveries  of  Columbus  occurred  most  op- 
portunely  for  the  Spanish  nation,  at  the  moment  exteBt 
when  it  was  released  from  the  tumultuous  struggle 
in  which  it  had  been  engaged  for  so  many  years 
with  the  Moslems.  The  severe  schooling  of  these 
wars  had  prepared  it  for  entering  on  a  bolder  the- 
atre of  action,  whose  stirring  and  romantic  perils 
raised  still  higher  the  chivalrous  spirit  of  the  peo- 
ple. The  operation  of  this  spirit  was  shown,  in 
the  alacrity  with  which  private  adventurers  em- 
barked in  expeditions  to  the  New  World,  under 
cover  of  the  general  license,  during  the  last  two 
years  of  this  century.  Their  efforts,  combined  with 
those  of  Columbus,  extended  the  range  of  discov- 
ery from  its  original  limits,  twenty-four  degrees  of 
north  latitude,  to  probably  more  than  fifteen  south, 
comprehending  some  of  the  most  important  terri- 
tories in  the  western  hemisphere.  Before  the  end 
of  1500,  the  principal  groups  of  the  West  Indian 
islands  had  been  visited,  and  the  whole  extent  of 
the  southern  continent  coasted,  from  the  Bay  of 
Honduras  to  Cape  St.  Augustine.  One  adven- 
turous mariner,  indeed,  named  Lepe,  penetrated 
several  degrees  south  of  this,  to  a  point  not  reached 


29  See,  among  others,  Peter  Martyr,  Opus  Kpist.,  epist.  181. 
VOL.  II.  64 


b06 


SPANISH  COLONIAL  POLICY. 


PART 

II. 


by  any  other  voyager  for  ten  or  twelve  years 
after  A  great  part  of  the  kingdom  of  Brazil 
was  embraced  in  this  extent,  and  two  successive 
Castilian  navigators  landed  and  took  formal  pos- 
session of  it  for  the  crown  of  Castile,  previous  to 
its  reputed  discovery  by  the  Portuguese  Cabral ; 80 
although  the  claims  to  it  were  subsequently  relin- 
quished by  the  Spanish  Government,  conformably 
to  the  famous  line  of  demarkation  established  by 
the  treaty  of  Tordesillas.31 


30  Navarrete,  Coleccion  de  Via- 
ges, torn.  iii.  pp.  18-20.  —  Ca- 
bral 's  pretensions  to  the  discovery 
of  Brazil  appear  not  to  have  been 
doubted  until  recently.  They  are 
sanctioned  both  by  Robertson  and 
Raynal. 

31  The  Portuguese  court  formed, 
probably,  no  very  accurate  idea  of 
the  geographical  position  of  Bra- 
zil. King  Emanuel,  in  a  letter  to 
the  Spanish  sovereigns  acquainting 
them  with  Cabral's  voyage,  speaks 
of  the  newly  discovered  region  as 
not  only  convenient,  but  necessary, 
for  the  navigation  to  India.  (See 
the  letter,  apud  Navarrete,  Colec- 
cion de  Viages,  torn.  iii.  no.  13.) 
The  oldest  maps  of  this  country, 
whether  from  ignorance  or  design, 
bring  it  twenty-two  degrees  east  of 
its  proper  longitude,  so  that  the 
whole  of  the  vast  tract  now  com- 
prehended under  the  name  of  Bra- 
zil, would  fall  on  the  Portuguese 
side  of  the  partition  line  agreed  on 
by  the  two  governments,  which,  it 
will  be  remembered,  was  removed 
to  370  leagues  west  of  the  Cape  de 
Verd  Islands.    The  Spanish  court 


made  some  show  at  first  of  resist- 
ing  the  pretensions  of  the  Portu- 
guese, by  preparations  for  estab- 
lishing a  colony  on  the  northern 
extremity  of  the  Brazilian  territory. 
(Navarrete,  Coleccion  de  Viages, 
torn.  iii.  p.  39.)  It  is  not  easy  to 
understand  how  it  came  finally  to 
admit  these  pretensions.  Any  cor- 
rect admeasurement  with  the  Cas- 
tilian league  would  only  have  in- 
cluded the  fringe,  as  it  were,  of  the 
northeastern  promontory  of  Brazil. 
The  Portuguese  league,  allowing 
seventeen  to  a  degree,  may  have 
been  adopted,  which  would  em- 
brace nearly  the  whole  territory 
which  passed  under  the  name  of 
Brazil,  in  the  best  ancient  maps, 
extending  from  Para  on  the  north 
to  the  great  river  of  San  Pedrc 
on  the  south.  (See  Make  Brun, 
Universal  Geography,  (Boston 
1824  -  9,)  book  91.  Mariana  seem.* 
willing  to  help  the  Portuguese,  by 
running  the  partition  line  one  hun- 
dred leagues  farther  west  than 
they  claimed  themselves.  Hist,  de 
Espafia,  torn.  ii.  p.  607. 


FIlBtitrimia  The  discovery  of  the  New  World  riod  when  the  human  race  was  suf- 
w£jjNeW    w  us  fortunately  reserved  for  a  pe-    ficientl)  enlightened  to  form  some 


SPANISH  COLONIAL  POLICY.  507 

While  the  colonial  empire  of  Spain  was  thus  chapter 

every  day  enlarging,  the  man  to  whom  it  was  all   IX'  . 

due  was  never  permitted  to  know  the  extent,  or  the 
value  of  it.  He  died  in  the  conviction  in  which  he 
lived,  that  the  land  he  had  reached  was  the  long- 
sought  Indies.  But  it  was  a  country  far  richer  than 
the  Indies  ;  and,  had  he  on  quitting  Cuba  struck 


conception  of  its  importance.  Pub- 
lic attention  was  promptly  and 
eagerly  directed  to  this  momentous 
event,  so  that  few  facts  worthy  of 
note,  during-  the  whole  progress  of 
discovery  from  its  earliest  epoch ,  es- 
caped contemporary  record.  Many 
of  these  notices  have,  indeed,  per- 
ished through  neglect,  in  the  va- 
rious repositories  in  which  they 
were  scattered.  The  researches 
of  Navarrete  have  rescued  many, 
and  will,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  many 
more  from  their  progress  to  obliv- 
ion. The  first,  two  volumes  of  his 
compilation,  containing  the  jour- 
nals and  letters  of  Columbus,  the 
correspondence  of  the  sovereigns 
with  him,  and  a  vast  quantity  of 
public  and  private  documents,  form, 
as  I  have  elsewhere  remarked,  the 
most  authentic  basis  for  a  history 
of  that  great  man.  Next  to  these 
in  importance  is  the  "History  of  the 
Admiral,"  by  his  son  Ferdinand, 
whose  own  experience  and  oppor- 
tunities, combined  with  uncommon 
literary  attainments,  eminently  qual- 
ified him  for  recording  his  father's 
extraordinary  life.  It  must  be  al- 
lowed, that  he  has  done  this  with 
a  candor  and  good  faith  seldom 
warped  by  any  overweening,  though 
natural,  partiality  for  his  subject. 
His  work  met  with  a  whimsical 
fate.  The  original  was  early  lost, 
but  happily  not  before  it  had  been 
translated  into  the  Italian,  from 
which  a  Spanish  version  was  after- 
wards made;  and  from  this  latter, 


thus  reproduced  in  the  same  tongue 
in  which  it  originally  appeared,  are 
derived  the  various  translations  of 
it  into  the  other  languages  of  Eu- 
rope. The  Spanish  version,  which 
is  incorporated  into  Barcia's  col- 
lection, is  executed  in  a  slovenly 
manner,  and  is  replete  with  chro- 
nological inaccuracies;  a  circum- 
stance not  very  wonderful,  consid- 
ering the  curious  transmigration  it 
has  undergone. 

Another  contemporary  author  of  peter  Mar- 
great  value  is  Peter  Martyr,  who  fyr. 
took  so  deep  an  interest  in  the  nau- 
tical enterprise  of  his  day,  as  to 
make  it,  independently  of  the  abun- 
dant notices  scattered  through  his 
correspondence,  the  subject  of  a 
separate  work.  His  history,  "  De 
Rebus  Oceanicis  et  Novo  Orbe," 
has  all  the  value  which  extensive 
learning,  a  reflecting,  philosophical 
mind,  and  intimate  familiarity  with 
the  principal  actors  in  the  scenes  he 
describes,  can  give.  Indeed,  that 
no  source  of  information  might  be 
wanting  to  him,  the  sovereigns  au- 
thorized nim  to  be  present  at  the 
council  of  the  Indies,  whenever  any 
communication  was  made  to  that 
body,  respecting  the  progress  of 
discovery.  The  principal  defects 
of  his  work  arise  from  the  precipi- 
tate manner  in  which  the  greater 
part  of  it  was  put  together,  and  the 
consequently  imperfect  and  occa- 
sionally contradictory  statements 
which  appear  in  it.  But  the  hon- 
est intentions  of  the  author,  who 


508 


SPANISH  COLONIAL  POLICY. 


part  into  a  westerly,  instead  of  southerly  direction,  it 
— . — ,  would  have  carried  him  into  the  very  depths  of  the 
golden  regions,  whose  existence  he  had  so  long 
and  vainly  predicted.  As  it  was,  he  "only  open- 
ed the  gates,"  to  use  his  own  language,  for  others 
more  fortunate  than  himself;  and,  before  he  quitted 
Hispaniola  for  the  last  time,  the  young  adventurer 


seems  to  have  been  fully  sensible  of 
his  own  imperfections,  and  his  lib- 
eral spirit,  are  so  apparent,  as  to 
disarm  criticism  in  respect  to  com- 
paratively venial  errors. 
Hen-era  and  But  tbe  writer  who  has  furnish- 
Muiioz.  e(j  t,ne  greatest  supply  of  materials 
for  the  modern  historian  is  Antonio 
de  Herrera.  He  did  not  flourish, 
indeed,  until  near  a  century  after 
the  discovery  of  America  ;  but  the 
post  which  he  occupied  of  histo- 
riographer of  the  Indies  gave  him 
free  access  to  the  most  authentic 
and  reserved  sources  of  informa- 
tion. He  has  availed  himself  of 
these  with  great  freedom  ;  trans- 
ferring whole  chapters  from  the 
unpublished  narratives  of  his  prede- 
cessors, especially  of  the  good  bish- 
op Las  Casas,  whose  great  work, 
Cronica  de  las  Indias  Occiden- 
tals,"  contained  too  much  that  was 
offensive  to  national  feeling  to  be 
allowed  the  honors  of  the  press. 
The  Apostle  of  the  Indians,  how- 
ever, lives  in  the  pages  of  Herrera, 
who,  while  he  has  omitted  the  tu- 
mid and  overheated  declamation  of 
the  original,  is  allowed  by' the  Cas- 
tilian  critics  to  have  retained  what- 
ever is  of  most  value,  and  exhibit- 
ed it  in  a  dress  far  superior  to  that 
of  his  predecessor.  It  must  not  be 
omitted,  however,  that  he  is  also 
accused  of  occasional  inadvertence  in 
stating  as  fact,  what  Las  Casas  only 
adduced  as  tradition  or  conjecture. 
His  "  Historia  General  de  las  Indias 
Occid  en  tales,"  bringing  down  the 


narrative  to  1554,  was  published  in 
four  volumes,  at  Madrid,  in  1001. 
Herrera  left  several  other  histories 
of  the  different  states  of  Europe, 
and  closed  his  learned  labors  in 
1G25,  at  the  age  of  sixty. 

No  Spanish  historian  had  since 
arisen  to  contest  the  palm  with 
Herrera  on  his  own  ground,  until  at 
the  close  of  the  last  century,  Don 
Juan  Bautista  Mufioz  was  commis- 
sioned by  the  government  to  pre- 
pare a  history  of  the  New  World. 
The  talents  and  liberal  acquisitions 
of  this  scholar,  the  free  admission 
opened  to  him  in  every  place  of  pub- 
lic and  private  deposit,  and  the 
immense  mass  of  materials  collect- 
ed by  his  indefatigable  researches, 
authorized  the  most  favorable  augu- 
ries of  his  success.  These  were 
justified  by  the  character  of  the 
first  volume,  which  brought  the 
narrative  of  early  discovery  to  the 
period  of  Bobadilla's  mission,  writ- 
ten in  a  perspicuous  and  agreeable 
style,  with  such  a  discriminating 
selection  of  incident  and  skilful  ar- 
rangement, as  convey  the  most  dis- 
tinct impression  "to  the  mind  of  the 
reader.  Unfortunately,  the  untime- 
ly death  of  the  author  crushed  his 
labors  in  the  bud.  Their  fruits  were 
not  wholly  lost,  however.  Se- 
fior  Navarrete  availing  himself  of 
them,  in  connexion  with  those  de- 
rived from  his  own  extensive  inves- 
tigations, is  pursuing  in  part  the 
plan  of  Mufioz,  by  the  publication 
of  original  documents ;  and  Mr. 


SPANISH  COLONIAL  POLICY. 


509 


arrived  there,  who  was  destined,  by  the  conquest  of  chapter 

Mexico,  to  realize  all  the  magnificent  visions,  which   !f!  

had  been  derided  as  only  visions,  in  the  lifetime  of 
Columbus. 

Irvii.^  has  completed  this  design  in    structing  out  of  them  the  nohlest 
regard  to  the  early  history  of  Span-    monument  to  the  memory  of  Co- 
ish  discovery,  by  the  use  which  lie  lumbus. 
has  made  of  these  materials  incon- 


END  OF  VOL.  II. 


GETTY  CENTER  LIBRARY 

II 


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